std.xml2 (collecting features)

[Andrei Alexandrescu via Digitalmars-d]

On 5/4/15 12:31 PM, Jonathan M Davis wrote:
> On Monday, 4 May 2015 at 09:35:55 UTC, Ola Fosheim Grøstad wrote:
>> However, it would make a lot of sense to just convert an existing XML
>> solution with Boost license. I don't know which ones are any good, but
>> RapidXML is at least Boost.
>
> Given how D's arrays work, we have the opportunity to have an
> _extremely_ fast XML parser thanks to slices. It's highly unlikely that
> any C or C++ solution is going to be able to compete, and if it can,
> it's likely to be far more complex than necessary. Parsing is an area
> where we definitely should write our own stuff rather than porting
> existing code from other languages or use existing libraries in other
> languages via C bindings. Fast parsing is definitely a killer feature of
> D and the fact that std.xml botches that so badly is just embarrassing.

To be frank what's more embarrassing is that we managed to do nothing 
about it for years (aside from endlessly wailing about it in an a 
capella ensemble). It's a failure of leadership (that Walter and I need 
to work on) that very many unimportant and arguably less interesting 
areas of Phobos get attention at the expense of this one. -- Andrei