So here's the nightmare scenario: X.693 (XER - XML Encoding Rules for ASN.1). You get the "best" of ASN.1 and XML -- undecipherable ASCII text with lots of angle brackets :-) > -----Original Message----- > From: Karl Auerbach [mailto:karl@cavebear.com] > Sent: Sun, August 24, 2003 9:12 PM > To: Dean Anderson > Cc: IETF > Subject: Re: Pretty clear ... SIP > > > > > > It has been my experience that ASN.1, no matter which > encoding rules are > > > used, has proven to be a failure and lingering > interoperability and > > > denial-of-service disaster. > > I think the nugget of our discussion is the old, and probably > unanswerable, question of what is the proper balance between present > function and future (unforeseen) extension. > > Back in the 1970's I met a very smart system designer. He drew a > distinction between "intricate" and "complicated". A fine > watch with many > moving parts could be intricate as being a well engineered > solution to a > specific problem, while a Rube Goldberg timepiece could be > complicated and > not well engineered. The difference being the fact that unnecessary > elements are elided from an intricate solution unless there > is a specific > articulated reason to leave them in. > > ASN.1 (along with other general purpose encoders such as XML) carry a > heavy burden of machinery that is present whether it is > needed or used or > not. [snip]