OT: X#, a new Msft functional language similar to Lisp; Python prominently mentioned

[Ron Stephens]

Ok, this is a brand new, wild rumor, but of some interest. Microsoft is 
said to be creating a new functional language , X#, to be able to easily 
extract and process data from XML documents.

The author of this new online article, one Sean McGraff,  posits that 
most programming paradigms are either a)object oriented, like Java, 
Python, and C++ or b) use tabular data structures, such as relational 
data bases. He further posits that XML does not fit neatly into either 
object oriented nor tabular paradigms, but does fit neatly into a 
functional programming style that treats data and code as one and the 
same thing, like Lisp.

Interesting. I don't like Microsoft, but this actually sounds like an 
idea that might have some merit. Of course, rather than use Lisp, 
Microsoft has to re-invent the wheel in a proprietary fashion.

Does anyone think the ideas expressed in this article about XML being 
easier to process in a functional programming style, are either accurate 
or stupid?

Could Python's functional programming style be a good fit for XML data? 
Could Python be extended to enhance such capabilities, if those 
capabilities have any validity?

The article is at 
http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid26_gci873910,00.html

Ron Stephens
http://www.awaretek.com/plf.html

There is no predicting what the Pythonic web spider will dig up next ...