[LA.pm] Parrot question

[Pitts, James - HSX]

Preface:  I recently posted this question in Tribe, but I probably would get
an even better answer here :-) 

I am in the middle of writing a comparison of rdf parsers in perl, python,
php, and java.

Over the last few years I have had to set up my mod_perl apps on a number of
servers around HSX. Setting up c libs such as expat and gd has always been a
part of a new install - no big deal. However, if I were to consider wide
distribution of perl software, I would probably decide not to rely on any
external libs (a non-programmer can only perform so many tasks before they
lose patience). Unfortuantely for perl, most of the important XML and RDF
stuff relies on expat. 

The popular MT blogging app does not use any expat-reliant code - RDF::Core
or even XML::Parser - to perform RSS-related tasks. Using XML::Parser::Lite
isn't necessarily bad for MT, but perhaps they may want MT to, er, use that
great XML::FOAF module that Trott and co. submitted to cpan. 

My question is: can libs such as expat eventually be ported to run on parrot
- and still have reasonable performance? This would help make perl6 apps as
easily distributable as java wars. At the very least, a "real" xml parser
needs to be available for user-installed perl apps to tap into.

Ironically, the wide use of the php platform has actually helped with this;
lots of server admins have built expat to support php's xml_parser
functions.

- JP