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<blockquote data-quote="reanjr" data-source="post: 2144716" data-attributes="member: 20740">I decided on a XML for a couple of reasons:&nbsp;- It's extremely simple and intuitive for the common user to read and fiddle with.&nbsp;- No dependency issues (other than XML libraries which can hardly be called dependencies nowadays)&nbsp;- Doesn't foster argument over language issues (&quot;This architecture would be great if they had used Java/Perl/Python/whatever&quot;)&nbsp;- It creates only a single learning curve.&nbsp; Once you get into editing data files (such as a character), it's a natural progression to edit rules files.&nbsp; Also simplifies the architecture a little (though this isn't that big a deal with the libraries available).&nbsp;- Licensing free.&nbsp; I didn't want to get into the muddled mess of using GPL/CNRI (Python is CNRI, most language libraries are GPL) code.&nbsp; I just find it easier to deal with freely available closed libraries, which, in my experience, are better at maintaining backwards compatibility and packaging support.&nbsp; I usually try to work with the BSD license, which is how I planned on licensing mine.&nbsp;- Language agnostic.&nbsp; While one could write a Perl application that uses Python script (for example), one would find that by using Python script, you would attract a lot of Python developers and few others.&nbsp;- Extensible language.&nbsp; No language (other than Lisp) is extensible like XML.&nbsp; In fact, it can be said with more than a grain of truth, that any language that is as extensible as Lisp is itself a dialect of Lisp.&nbsp; With that in mind, I chose to design the XML language using Lisp principles (they parse in a similar fashion, so it's quite intuitive).That said, I primarily develop in PHP and .NET.&nbsp; Using .NET for the application-level I think is the way to go so that people have language choices (C#, VB, C++, Perl, Python, PHP, Fortran, COBOL and many others all have .NET versions).&nbsp; Also, of the 3 major platforms (Wintel, Linux on Intel, and Mac), only Java Bytecode has better cross-platform support and user penetration than MSIL/Mono,but it sticks you with a single language.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="reanjr, post: 2144716, member: 20740"] I decided on a XML for a couple of reasons: - It's extremely simple and intuitive for the common user to read and fiddle with. - No dependency issues (other than XML libraries which can hardly be called dependencies nowadays) - Doesn't foster argument over language issues ("This architecture would be great if they had used Java/Perl/Python/whatever") - It creates only a single learning curve. Once you get into editing data files (such as a character), it's a natural progression to edit rules files. Also simplifies the architecture a little (though this isn't that big a deal with the libraries available). - Licensing free. I didn't want to get into the muddled mess of using GPL/CNRI (Python is CNRI, most language libraries are GPL) code. I just find it easier to deal with freely available closed libraries, which, in my experience, are better at maintaining backwards compatibility and packaging support. I usually try to work with the BSD license, which is how I planned on licensing mine. - Language agnostic. While one could write a Perl application that uses Python script (for example), one would find that by using Python script, you would attract a lot of Python developers and few others. - Extensible language. No language (other than Lisp) is extensible like XML. In fact, it can be said with more than a grain of truth, that any language that is as extensible as Lisp is itself a dialect of Lisp. With that in mind, I chose to design the XML language using Lisp principles (they parse in a similar fashion, so it's quite intuitive). That said, I primarily develop in PHP and .NET. Using .NET for the application-level I think is the way to go so that people have language choices (C#, VB, C++, Perl, Python, PHP, Fortran, COBOL and many others all have .NET versions). Also, of the 3 major platforms (Wintel, Linux on Intel, and Mac), only Java Bytecode has better cross-platform support and user penetration than MSIL/Mono,but it sticks you with a single language. [/QUOTE]

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