Re: Java, RDF, XML ?

> > So that's my quick analysis to get us started.  What issues have I 
> > missed?
> 
> If I were dealing with Java objects or XML I think that analysis would be 
> fine. However, in the case of supporting RDF data don't we also have to 
> consider the semantics of the data, not just its format?
> 
> If the rule language is going to be appropriate for RDF processing it 
> probably ought to respect the semantics of things like bNodes (not to 
> mention the open world assumption). Making a rule language based on case 3 
> (XML as Fundamental Data) able to correctly process RDF data would surely 
> take more than just an XPath-friendly RDF syntax.
> 
> Or maybe that's an issue you'd rather separate off?

It does strike me as a separate issue.  If the rule language itself is
a semantic extension of RDF (like SWRL is), then the challenge really
is just in dealing with the RDF/XML syntax, isn't it?  The rule
language itself would have bNodes (file-scope existentially quantified
variables), etc.  If the rule language has semantics which are
incompatible with deployed RDF and OWL, then yes, we have a different
set of challenges, well beyond the syntactic ones.

      -- sandro