RE: Could XQuery replace the W3C DOM?

XSLT has been available as a higher-level XML processing language for nearly
three years. It doesn't totally replace the DOM, because there is probably a
need for lower-level interfaces as well, but it certainly enables most XML
applications to be written without using the DOM.

As a DOM-replacement, I don't think XQuery offers anything that XSLT
doesn't. It may have language features that some users prefer, but it's
functionally equivalent.

Michael Kay

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Eamon O'Tuathail [mailto:eamon.otuathail@clipcode.com] 
> Sent: 27 August 2002 22:46
> To: www-ql@w3.org
> Subject: Could XQuery replace the W3C DOM?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Let's assume at some future point (e.g. v2) XQuery will 
> support XML editing and some form of notifications [e.g. the 
> client registers an interest in a particular event, and later 
> gets told about it (without
> polling) when the event is raised.
> 
> Could we use XQuery as a complete replacement for the W3C 
> Document Object Model (DOM)?
> 
> The vast majority of the functionality in the DOM is to read 
> and write XML data items, and event notifications - which is 
> pretty similar to XQuery's role, so why bother with the DOM? 
> 
> Let me explain a little further. Imagine we have a peer 
> network (e.g. based on IETF BEEP [RFC 3080]), and we have a 
> presentation peer application (a successor to today's web 
> browser) running on the machine where the user sits, and we 
> have a logic peer application (a successor to today's web 
> server) running on the machine containing the core application.
> 
> The presentation peer contains a fast in-memory XQuery-aware 
> data engine. The equivalent of triggers within this data 
> engine would make changes to the graphical user interface 
> based on the changing data it stores. When the presentation 
> peer shuts down, it erases all data in the data-engine [e.g. 
> it is not used for permanent storage].  
> 
> The logic peer would write XML documents into the present 
> peer's data engine (e.g. XForms, XHTML2, SVG, SMIL2, X3D, 
> etc.) = full documents when e.g. a form is about to be 
> displayed, and then edits to that document when the form 
> needs to be changed. User (XML) events can flow back in 
> notifications to the logic peer. 
> 
> In such a scenario, do we need the DOM at all?
> 
> Eamon
> 
> 
>

Received on Wednesday, 28 August 2002 06:26:14 UTC