SGML could change delimiters
(we learned better before XML)
- Recognizing delimiters is more important than changing delimiters
- Lesson learned: We should all delimit our markup in the same way
- So XML provided ONE way to do it
- “Data [unlike programs] must have explicit declaration of syntax,
not implicit”
— Michael C. Daconta
As the XML 1998 rec says:
“Terseness in XML markup is of minimal importance.”