Re: Default RDF serialization

On 8/28/12 7:31 AM, Olivier Berger wrote:
> Hi.
>
> David Booth <david@dbooth.org> writes:
>
>> FWIW, if the LD profile is going to recommend one RDF serialization as
>> the default for RDF, I would argue strongly that it should be Turtle
>> instead of RDF/XML, because:
>>
>>   (a) Turtle is far more human friendly to read;
>>   (b) RDF/XML is not XML Schema friendly;
>>   (c) RDF/XML has XML-based restrictions (such as prohibiting local names
>> that start with a digit) that make certain RDF difficult to represent;
>>   (d) RDF/XML has had a history of misleading developers who are familiar
>> with XML (but not RDF) into thinking that RDF is just a kind of XML.
>>
> Let me add my 2 cents :
>
> - IMHO, Turtle (or another human readable format) should be used for
>    writing the specifications (i.e. illustrating the /model/ part if
>    there's some separation between model and implementations), and
>    providing examples, in order to be as much appealing to non-RDF
>    experts as possible.
>
> - I'm not sure Turtle support should be a MUST when RDF/XML would only
>    have a lower requirement for compliance to the specs of any LDP
>    service. At the moment, but this may change, I'm not sure the level of
>    support of Turtle in open source libraries in different languages is
>    as good as RDF/XML's. For instance, in PHP, if we want to offer a
>    migration path for lots of REST PHP apps that may become LDP aware
>    some day. The good points of RDF/XML is that you may do some parsing
>    with an XML (DOM) parser with some level of success on the client side
>    even though you may miss some RDF constructs (like reification, etc.),
>    whereas with Turtle, one may be just limited by no supporting library
>    available on the hosting server side.
>
> Of course, depending on the ETA of LDP's deliverables, the last remark
> may be obsoleted as Turtle gains wider support.
>
> I'd like to make sure we think about non-Java adopters, for instance,
> and consider the level of support of the different RDF serializations in
> various languages before me make definitive choices.
>
> Just my 2 cents,
>
> Best regards.
To make anything bootstrap to point of critical mass on the Web you need 
the following critical characteristics associated with Web documents:

1. cut and paste pattern friendliness -- when editing content
2. human readability -- when reading content
3. save to storage (disk, folder etc..) -- when saving new or updated 
content.

In addition to the above, an document author shouldn't be impeded or 
distracted by:

1. denotation mechanism choices -- for documents of document subjects 
and topics
2. domain name ownership and DNS server admin privileges
3. name/address disambiguation matters
4. web server ownership and admin privileges -- for re-write rules, 
indirection, and content negotiation in general.

A user should craft a document, save it, then share its hyperlink with 
the world or a group.

With the above in mind, you ultimately end up with Turtle, its the 
format that passes all the tests above. All of the other formats are 
really aimed as specific profiles which I break down as follows:

1. Turtle -- everyone

2. HTML5+MicroData -- HTML application developers

3. (X)HTML+RDFa -- Well-Formed HTML application developers with an 
(X)HTML background and preference

4. JSON-LD -- Javascript developers that prefer JSON based data 
representation over XML based data representation

5. RDF/XML -- early community of developers and academics associated 
with the Semantic Web Project.

There is ample history in place re. the effects of formats on both 
Linked Data and the broader Semantic Web vision. There are no reasons 
for repeating disastrous missteps from the past. None whatsoever.

The Web is not about programmers, its for everyone. That means a 
plethora of user profiles.

Links:

1. http://bit.ly/RJzd9S -- Why Turtle Matters .

-- 

Regards,

Kingsley Idehen	
Founder & CEO
OpenLink Software
Company Web: http://www.openlinksw.com
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