{"id":99,"date":"2003-02-24T00:30:16","date_gmt":"2003-02-24T00:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/patberry.net\/wordpress\/?p=99"},"modified":"2003-02-24T00:30:16","modified_gmt":"2003-02-24T00:30:16","slug":"survey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/patberry.net\/wordpress\/?p=99","title":{"rendered":"Survey"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m taking an XML class at Wake Technical Community College. At the first meeting, one of the exercises involved answering a survey distributed by the instructor and then coding the result in XML. Some of the questions were amusing, so here is an excerpt (minus the boring what’s-your-name stuff at the beginning):
\nPlease specify your background (software developer, database administrator, test engineer, homemaker, electrical engineer, graphic artist, web designer, technical writer, technical team lead, manager, other).<\/i>
\nTechnical writer with sixteen years of experience in the computers\/software\/telecommunication field.
\nDo you know HTML like the back of your hand?<\/i>
\nYes and no. I know the basic tags by heart: headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, links, and so forth. I would rather use a text editor to code HTML by hand than use a WYSIWYG tool, because I’ve seen the sort of HTML generated by such tools, and it makes my skin crawl. But for more complex stuff like framesets, I have to look up the syntax, and I don’t know anything about CSS.
\nIs XML the next hot thing or is it already over and done with?<\/i>
\nI hope it’s the next hot thing, but who knows?
\nIn months or years, how long have you known about XML?<\/i>
\nI’ve been vaguely aware of it for two or three years, I guess.
\nIn a Supporting Warrior Smackdown, who would be most likely to win? (a) Teal’c<\/a> of SG1<\/cite>. (b) Duncan MacLeod of Highlander<\/cite>. (c) Worf of ST:TNG<\/cite>. (d) Jedi Ki-Adi-Mundi<\/a> of Star Wars Episodes 1 and 2<\/cite>. (d) Tyr Anasazi<\/a> of Andromeda<\/cite>.
\n<\/i>It would come down to a duel between Duncan McLeod and Ki-Adi-Mundi, because the others are just not in the same league as an immortal and a Jedi. And MacLeod would lose, because he’s vulnerable to decapitation, which is easy for a Jedi armed with a lightsaber. Even if you arm him with a lightsaber of his own, MacLeod isn’t going to be able to get through the defenses of a Jedi who can use the Force to anticipate his opponent’s moves.
\nWhy are you interested in learning about XML (or aren’t you!?!?)?<\/i>
\nTo improve my marketability as a technical writer and, hopefully, get a job.
\nWhat computer languages do you already know?<\/i>
\nI am at least slightly familiar with Java, C++, assembly language, Pascal, COBOL, PL\/I, and BASIC.
\nIf you have a specific interest in a particular topic related to XML, please specify.<\/i>
\nNot really.
\nWhat is a Regular Expression? (a) A way to manage spreadsheets. (b) A method of specifying data types. (c) A Microsoft invention, contributed to the W3C, for interpreting XML. (d) A method of specifying a textual pattern. (e) The result of a healthy diet with plenty of fiber. (f) None of the above.
\n<\/i> I don’t really know, but I’ll guess (d) because I know that the “re” in “grep” stands for “regular expression.”
\nWho is tougher? (a) Jango Fett<\/a>. (b) Alton Brown<\/a>. (c) Neither — both are fictional characters.<\/i>
\nWho is Alton Brown? Wait, let me do a Google search. (Ten minutes pass.) Hmm. This guy is either a genius or a madman. Hang on, I’ll be right back. (Five more minutes pass.) Okay, I’ve programmed my TiVo to record his show<\/a>. I’ll get back to you after I’ve seen him in action.
\nDo you want to know more about the local XML user group serving the Triangle area?<\/i>
\nNo, thanks. I already know about it<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m taking an XML class at Wake Technical Community College. At the first meeting, one of the exercises involved answering a survey distributed by the instructor and then coding the result in XML. Some of the questions were amusing, so … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-me"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/patberry.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/patberry.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/patberry.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patberry.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patberry.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/patberry.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/patberry.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patberry.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patberry.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}