[Developers] Question about the backend software and data

[Scott Meyer]

Steven Ericsson-Zenith wrote:
> I am interested in the Metaweb position with respect to XQuery. Will  
> freebase provide an implementation of XQuery and, if so, what happens  
> then to MQL?
> 
> Freebase is an interesting experiment. But apart from the issues of  
> category development that are already becoming apparent, I see the  
> conflict between XQuery and MQL as significant. Isn't it in  
> Freebase's interest to support XQuery?

MQL is here to stay.

We chose a unique JSON-based syntax for three reasons:

1. Lack of demand for XML,SPARQL,etc. Supporting XQuery
   doesn't gain us access to several million users.

2. Ease of use in common dynamic languages, in particular
   Javascript in the browser, and Python/PHP/Perl in the
   server.  No XML parser to download.

3. Ability to minimize the API without subsetting.  We're
   trying to build the simplest possible thing and then
   see what people actually do.

All of those still seem to be in full force now.  However, if
we found a large community of potential users who were
already using XQuery (or anything else) we'd certainly
consider supporting it as well.

What XQuery emitting environments did you have in mind when
you say "Isn't in Freebase's interest to support XQuery?"
What would we plug into?

Regards,

-Scott