Re: State and tracking need to be separated (Re: session-id redux)

Paul Burchard ([email protected])
Sat, 29 Jul 95 07:50:30 -0600


I said:
> the current agent-level model of the Web is rather vague
> about state

It would be irresponsible for me to say this without also referring
you to Dan Connolly's extremely non-vague formalism for the Web:

<URL:http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/People/Connolly/drafts/formalism.html>

However, I believe this model needs some refinement. For instance
-- somewhat surprisingly -- it does not define any concept of
linking, only of objects ("entities") and object addresses ("URIs").

Also, the only stateful (time-dependent) part of this model is the
"representation" of URIs by entities, and even that is strictly
under the control of timed expiration. Thus, the entities
themselves are specifically _not_ stateful (probably a good choice).

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Paul Burchard <[email protected]>
``I'm still learning how to count backwards from infinity...''
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