VML, SVG, Standards
Rob Weir, with yet more smart commentary on the MS ECMA spec and standards:
Now take a look at Chapter 23, VML, pages 3571-3795 (PDF pages 3669-3893). We see here 224 pages of “VML Reference Material”, which appears to be a rehash of the 1999 VML Reference from MSDN, and in this form it hides itself in a 4,081-page OOXML specification, racing through Ecma and then straight into ISO. Is this right? Should a rejected standard from 1998, be fast-tracked to ISO over a successful, widely implemented alternative like SVG?
Good question!
Rob makes some good points about why using standards matter in a really practical sense (they are often technically-superior because they’ve done through extensive review, they have knowledge and tools built around them, etc.). I wonder how these issues relate to Rick Jelliffe’s discussion of the developer-friendliness of the two formats?
