XOM API for Processing XML with Java

[Elliotte Rusty Harold <elharo AT metalab.unc.edu>]

At 2:14 PM -0500 2/2/04, jcowan AT reutershealth.com wrote:
> Elliotte Rusty Harold scripsit:
>
> >  This is the *LAST CALL* development release of XOM 1.0.
>
> When you announce a last call, you usually should mention the deadline
> for reviews, so people know how long they have.

I really don't know. But I figure there's at least a few weeks before 
I'll be able to get back to this in a serious way.

> Node:
>
> 1) I'm now going to argue that hasChildren should be removed in favor of
>    using getChildCount() == 0.  In a proper JIT they should be exactly
>    the same at run time, and it's really trivial to write one's own
>    method hasChildren(Node n) if you must have it.

I sort of like hasChildren(), but I'll check and see how much I'm 
actually using it. What does everyone else think?

> Nodes:
>
> 1) I think it's worth having a put method to complement get.  The only
>    way to replace a single Node in the list currently is either to copy
>    it, which does not preserve object identity, or else to remove and
>    then insert/append, which involves copying the list anywhere up to
>    twice internally (if you want to replace the zeroth node), and requires
>    getting the insert vs. append choice correct.

I'm sorry. I don't think I understand your proposal here. What would 
be the signature of this method, and what would its behavior be?

> >  release will be 1.0 alpha 1,
>
> I think "alpha" has the wrong semantics here.  This is much more than alpha
> code; I think it should be 1.0rc1.

I think alpha and beta have been seriously debased in the last 
fifteen years or so, and I'm trying to fight back. :-) To my way of 
thinking alpha 1 is feature complete. Beta 1 is free of all known 
bugs, and the release candidate has all documents and supporting 
material in place.

I'm going to run through the problems you noted in the JavaDoc. The 
rest of it I'll have to come back to in a little while.
--

  Elliotte Rusty Harold
  elharo AT metalab.unc.edu
  Effective XML (Addison-Wesley, 2003)
  http://www.cafeconleche.org/books/effectivexml
  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0321150406/ref%3Dnosim/cafeaulaitA