RE: XQuery vs XML Query Algebra

At 12:50 PM 3/3/2001 +0100, Peter Fankhauser wrote:
> > Or, to put it another way, does XQuery fulfill the XML Query
> > Requirements any better than the Algebra would?

I agree with everything Peter said in his response to Michael.

>As pointed out above, the goals of the XQuery WD, and the
>the goals of the XML Query Algebra WD are complementary, so
>the question of which is "better" is hard to ask/answer. But indeed the
>more they agree syntax wise without compromising their purpose
>(readability vs. straightforward formalizability) the better.

Right. If the Algebra and the Query Language were so different that mapping 
was not straightforward, I would wonder if we had done something wrong. 
Aligning the syntax is also a useful goal - after all, mapping is not an 
end in itself. Phil Wadler likes to say that the Algebra should be a subset 
of the Query Language.

Jonathan

Received on Monday, 5 March 2001 09:39:27 UTC