RE: universal languages

Peter Crowther wrote,
> Dan Connolly wrote,
> > Triples are an idiom that show up all over the place, in my 
> > experience. They look like a pretty important and useful 
> > modelling primitive.
>
> You can model a directed graph using a set of triples; you can 
> model an arbitrarily complex data structure with a directed 
> graph.  As primitives, they are sufficient to model any other 
> structure.  I'm not aware of a simpler primitive that allows 
> you to model an arbitrarily complex data structure using only a 
> single set containing instances of that primitive.

Huh?

You can model a directed graph using an ordered set. Is a set of 
triples 'simpler' than a set with an ordering?

If triples are useful for the job at hand, then fair enough. But
I don't think it'll help much to attempt to give them any other
sort of justification.

Cheers,


Miles

-- 
Miles Sabin                               InterX
Internet Systems Architect                5/6 Glenthorne Mews
+44 (0)20 8817 4030                       London, W6 0LJ, England
msabin@interx.com                         http://www.interx.com/

Received on Saturday, 3 February 2001 11:12:30 UTC