[XML-SIG] I am confused...

[Martin v. Loewis]

> The above code is what I avoid to do.  I want my application to be
> completely data-driven, so even "/article/author/name" must not appear in
> the program!

I'll look into your code separately, but I'd like to make two points
here:

a) There is often a trade-off between data-driven and fast
   algorithms. Somebody will probably shoot me for that statement, but
   you should be willing to accept some performance degrading if you
   need it very general.

b) In Python, it is often possible to transform a data-driven approach
   in one with explicitly coded decisions, due to the dynamic nature
   of the language. If all else fails, you could generate the a program
   from the data.

c) I very much doubt that your *application* really needs to be
   completely data-driven; in any specific installation, there will be
   only a small set of queries. So that seems rather like a "nice to
   have" but a "must have" requirement.

Well, that's three points :-)

Regards,
Martin