On * Language Design

[Justin Johansson]

I just happened across an essay by Tim Bray (http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/misc/Tim)
that he wrote back in 2006 about XML Language Design (I guess he means schema design though).

Now why should D people care about this guy's rant about (XML) Language Design?

As I read the essay, the insight that I took away was that you can take out all 
references to XML and replace them with PL (as in programming language) without
loss of generality and most of what he says, imho, is applicable to, and there
are lessons to be learned (or should have been learned in 20/20 hindsight) for
the development of D (and for any aspiring PL for that matter).

Up front he strikes a chord that will be familiar to D people quoting another author:

“There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things”

And this snippet is a goodie too:

"Each and every language-design effort has the potential to blow through its deadlines and trail along forever, and offers many chances to fall into the bikeshed trap."

The main headings in his essay are:

Expect Semantic Gaps
Manage the Process
The Syntax-vs-Model Wars
Minimalism vs. Completeness
Evolution vs. Stability
Extensibility

If you have the time, this essay by Tim Bray is well-worth a read.  Here's the link:

http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2006/01/09/On-XML-Language-Design

Enjoy,

Justin Johansson