Is it just me, but isn't XQuery just a tardy ugly solution looking for a problem? And thinking it's going to excite people who write Mashups is hopeful, but possible if we see it supported in the browser, I guess. But the syntax. Ugh!
—Paul Downey
I wasn't able to attend XML 2006 because I knew the e-commerce launch I've been working with at Sun was too close. This week I've been in marathon planning sessions planning the next phase of the Sun project. I'm in the company of clever, engaging people who've traveled from various U.S. and European spots, so I get a little conference flavor in a much more focused setting. But I'm still getting a bit of the XML 2006 fix through attendee Weblogs.
The first thing that came to mind was "WTF! That's a hella lotta XQuery at the conference". I certainly don't miss that part. And now they have programming extensions of some sort? XQueryP? My stars! what a yucky idea. The enterprisey set seem to like XQuery, and I grant there's more substance to XQuery than some enterprisey fads such as WS-Jigsaw. So FLWR and friends are here to stay, whether I like it or not. No worries. I'll just arrange my affairs so that I have to deal with the muck as little as possible. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the occasional barb from a fellow nay-sayer. Wot Paul said.