Re:XML for databases: a dead idea
by MichaelGG on Tuesday January 15, 2013 @11:51AM
(#5061172)
Don't forget that XML came around 5-10 years before JSON got anywhere.
XML changed things, because it shifted focus from syntax and parsing to the actual meaning of the document. It's easy now to say XML sucks, but having a standard format (that was self-documenting, too) that _everyone_ jumped on, is a major jump.
Go look at RFCs for HTTP or SIP and see how idiotic it is to have to parse yet another custom format with all sorts of cutesy exceptions. XML eliminates that. Can it be done better? Now, sure.
XML changed things, because it shifted focus from syntax and parsing to the actual meaning of the document. It's easy now to say XML sucks, but having a standard format (that was self-documenting, too) that _everyone_ jumped on, is a major jump.
Go look at RFCs for HTTP or SIP and see how idiotic it is to have to parse yet another custom format with all sorts of cutesy exceptions. XML eliminates that. Can it be done better? Now, sure.