Re: [w3ctag/design-reviews] MathML Core (#438)

@torgo and @hadleybeeman 
> It occurs to me that the legacy situation you're dealing with here (and understandably! You've explained that well to us) may leave developers confused about when MathML will follow the web platform (like CSS) and when it won't.

Perhaps somewhere my emphasis has been misleading?  MathML-Core aims to _always_ follow the platform.  I have added and linked a [description/note](https://github.com/mathml-refresh/mathml-core/blob/master/docs/explainer.md#a-note-on-legacy-compat-and-following-the-platform) in the explainer about this to hopefully be more clear.


> Do you have any plans to produce developer-focused documentation? If so, can you cover that off somewhere, so that it's clear to them how to think about MathML?

The CG can help review and update documentation, yes.  We will, for example, definitely link up the DOM interfaces, and add any deprecation notes and recommend the underlying CSS properties for things like legacy compat elements/attributes.

That said, I think it's worth to noting:  _the current state_ of things is simultaneously confusing, and neither documented, necessary, or even desirable by anyone.  A lot of what MathML-Core is doing here is just making that better: Making the stuff that developers just assume by nature of being in the platform be true.  MathML-Core doesn't add new surprise in this regard, it removes it.  

Previously, for example, documentation didn't tell developers that they could set the `color` property in CSS, and that that would work - but that attempting to set the color via the `.style` property would throw (there are a lot of examples like this, this one is just easy to explain/point to).  Developers just expect that to work - a lot of documentation won't even mention it. There is a bigger problem if it doesn't work, and that fact isn't written down or specified, which is the case now.

Similarly, a bunch of spec work in MathML Core is around actually just defining how MathML actually fits in CSS, so that it can work better (or, at all in some cases).  @bfgeek especially has been really good about raising these issues and helping making sure we are resolving these things 'with the platform' so that we aren't adding new complexities or surprises, but removing them. As we complete, anything actually novel to MathML will certainly be added to MDN.





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Received on Tuesday, 10 March 2020 16:56:27 UTC