Motivation

XPS was originally motivated by the Star Trek holodeck! The founder of the project started thinking about the software necessary to control such a system. He recognized that the physics of such a system were beyond current physical technology, but also recognized that the control software for such a system might be possible soon. After 10 years of learning more about software and systems technology, the original holodeck motivation morphed into a more doable concept: XPS. For more on the holodeck origin of XPS, read the XPS In A Nutshell article.

Currently, the motivation to develop XPS is being driven by the following:

• Programming For Everyone! Programming a computer is a true joy. It rivals writing literature and composing music as an art form. Although programming is getting easier and becoming more widespread, it still isn't in the mainstream. Producing anything more than the most trivial of programs requires significant training, experience, and dedication. We aim to bring programming to everyone by simplifying the process.
• No More Typing! Most software today is written by experts one keystroke at a time. While some useful advances in software generation have been made, there's still too much typing. In conjunction with the "Programming For Everyone" goal, wouldn't it be better if you could manipulate your program in a virtual world designed for software construction? XPS aims to make that a reality.
• Connecting People. Almost all general purpose programming languages today are designed with only the target computer in mind. But, what about the Internet? Shouldn't a programming language and the supporting programming system be designed to make programming for the Internet trivial? What would happen if it was easy to build a system that could connect people together in ways they'd never thought possible before? At the core of XPS is an Internet-savvy kernel that allows the Internet to be incorporated into the primitives of XPL. We envision XPS supporting large communities of users interacting in virtual worlds that provide a satisfying experience where the technology gets out of the way and people can interact in ways never imagined today.
• Enabling Every Endeavor. Computers are wonderful tools. They can simplify many tasks and help us in nearly every pursuit. One of the biggest motivators for this project is the spin-off side effects it will have on other fields. What if a brilliant but under rated physicist could do all the programming he needed in days instead of decades? What would happen if scientists and business people could collaborate effectively in real time? What would happen if doctors could do surgery remotely?
• Active Documents. Because XPL is simply XML markup, it can be incorporated into any document. Furthermore, XPL knows about XML documents and how to transform them. With XPL, it becomes possible to easily incorporate behavior into documents, rather than just content.

These are just a few of the thoughts that motivate us to build XPS.