Marc Clifton (of MyXaml fame) and Frank Hileman (of VG.NET fame) Respond

Hello,

  allow me to highlight the response by Marc Clifton (of MyXAML fame)
and by Frank Hileman (of VG.NET fame) to the Avalon Knock-Offs blog
story. 

  Marc writes in the blog story titled "Microsoft Is Missing The Boat":

Regarding Avalon-XAML, I pretty much agree with what he's saying. This
is why I've tried to position MyXaml not as an Avalon-XAML ripoff, but
rather as a declarative programming language in its own right.  I
think there's a lot to be gained, possibly generally, in building
applications with a clear separation between declarative and
imperative programming.  It makes the task of design and
implementation easier and it provides the customer with a flexible,
customizable, and easily upgradeable product.  It opens the door to
server-based rich-thin client applications.

So yes, in my mind, not only is Xamlon missing the boat, but Microsoft
is too.

Regarding VG.net, I think comparing it to Avalon/XAML is like mixing
apples and oranges.  It's a self-contained product.  And besides, it
has a full-fledged designer which Xamlon and Microsoft don't have. 
How you can compare VG.net with Avalon and Xamlon is beyond me.

As to who's borrowing ideas from whom--let's get real here folks.
Avalon borrowed ideas from SVG and XAML is a borrowed idea from
several XML-based declarative languages--both have been available for
years before Microsoft decided to get on board.

Now, one more thing--isn't Microsoft's XAML idea dead?  If it's just a
"neat serialization format", so what?  We have designers that already
serialize to code.  I wouldn't ever want to manually create a vector
graphics serialized image--there are going to have to be good design
tools for that--and edits are pretty much restricted to really simple
changes.  So what's the point of XAML if it's just a nifty
serialization format for a UI and vector graphics?  I sure don't see any.

Like I said, Microsoft is missing the boat too.  I have several
customers that see the benefit of separating declarative and
imperative code and with whom I'm working on developing the rich-thin
client concept further, so it seems there are some people that do "get
it".  Microsoft, to date, isn't one of them.

  Source: http://myxaml.com/marcclifton/archive/2004/10/05/504.aspx

   Frank Hileman writes:

 As far as borrowing ideas -- I am the lead dev for VG.net, and have
been building object oriented vector graphics systems since 1986, long
before Avalon, long before SVG, even before X-windows came along. I
have ported graphics sytems to every rendering engine under the sun.
VG.net is a combination of ideas from the past, our own ideas, as well
as a leveraging GDI+ capabilities.

The VG.net styling system is definitely from CSS, which is similar to
SVG. The VG.net object model is designed to be easier to use than SVG,
and as a consequence, it is easier to use than Avalon. But it is not
based on either.

   - Gerald

---------------------------
Gerald Bauer
Rich Client Conference (RichCon) 2005 - http://richcon.com
XUL News Wire - http://xulnews.com  

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