[webbeans-dev] RE: XML configuration format

[Dan Allen]

> So, while I see that there are strengths and weaknesses to the XML style that
> is currently described in the spec, it is so different from every other existing
> XML descriptor in Java EE that the platform suffers and there is no sharing of
> experience. On the contrary, it requires learning new and different conventions,
> all in the context of trying to make this a bona fide Java EE technology.

Wow, isn't that exactly what people said when annotations were
introduced into EJB 3? You have to start somewhere using the
advancements in technology. Annotations were added to Java 5 and
finally EJB 3 made use of them. XML Schema was introduced a decade (or
more?) ago and finally we are using them to their full extent. It's
not such a bad thing to introduce something new. Look at how much
impact annotations had on the general morale of developers. So it's
not so much that this thing is new, scary, or inconsistent, but that
it is something that developers really want. I think that goes double
for developers who prefer XML over annotations because it gives them
the assurance they don't lose that "type-safety" perk just because
they prefer their trusty XML.

-Dan

-- 
Dan Allen
Senior Software Engineer, Red Hat | Author of Seam in Action

http://mojavelinux.com
http://mojavelinux.com/seaminaction

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