Re: What is the logic of storing XML in a Database?

On 2007-03-30, Marshall <marshall.spight_at_gmail.com> wrote:

>> Thankfully XML developed sufficient complexity to effectively discourage that.
>
> Hrm. It seems you and I have different values.

Sometimes. There may be better ways of discouraging people from tinkering but I'll take what I can get.

>
>
>> The efficiency argument I've already covered, but I should add that it's
>> normal for XML files to be compressed, which effectively turns it into an
>> efficient binary format.
>
> Compression addresses the bandwidth costs, but not the computational
> overhead. You still have to uncompress and parse, and this is
> not cheap.

That largely depends on how often you do it. I'm happy with using XML as a transfer medium when I have to move structured data between incompatible systems. What I think is a really dumb idea is to use XML files as part of your database. RDBMS manufacturers spend a lot of time and effort making data qickly and easily accessible. Going back fifty years to text files without indices is really dumb.

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