Re: XML: The good, the bad, and the ugly

From: Lemming <thiswillbounce_at_bumblbee.demon.co.uk>
Date: Sun, 03 Oct 2004 17:44:54 +0100
Message-ID: <qt90m0djj2uqq5l1vhqhs5betjcbevcgsg_at_4ax.com>


On Sat, 2 Oct 2004 13:53:02 -0500, "Dawn M. Wolthuis" <dwolt_at_tincat-group.comREMOVE> wrote:

>"Lemming" <thiswillbounce_at_bumblbee.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
>news:mhvrl0tol9qii69mi0p2p5is836p69823l_at_4ax.com...
>
>> ISTM that XML is the answer to the question all of us have asked at
>> one time or another: "Wouldn't it be nice to have a standard format to
>> shift data between systems without having to re-invent the wheel every
>> time?"
>>
>> Unfortunately, it's the wrong answer.
>
>It's better than comma-quote with a header row for data exchange, so from
>that perspective it is progress.

I'm no fan of csv, but at least it has the virtue of being concise. And I'd see the dtd or the xsd as being the equivalent of the header. It has the small benefit of being slightly more human readable, but at the cost of a bassive increase in file sizes.

Parsers ought to be easier to write, but my experience of watching C++ programmers struggling to parse even fairly simple XML structures leads me to think that it is in fact a lot harder than csv or even structured flat files.

>It doesn't force data into first-normal
>form, so that's progress.

You say that as though it's a good thing. Anyway, I'd disagree ... I feel that XML structure (hierarchical rather than relational, admittedly) lends itself to 1NF far better than csv or flat files.

>It's big and bulky, so not appropriate for every
>task, but it also isn't always the "wrong answer".

Perhaps my comment "the wrong answer" was rather harsh. Although I have to say I haven't yet found a data-exchange application for which it is a significantly better answer than simpler media (flat file, csv) and I've seen plenty of applications for it which are significantly worse.

>Slow progress, but
>progress none-the-less. --dawn

Oh, certainly; it's just such a pity that ever since xml has become flavour of the year investigation into alternatives and improvements seems to be non-existent.

Lemming

-- 
Curiosity *may* have killed Schrodinger's cat.
Received on Sun Oct 03 2004 - 18:44:54 CEST

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