[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Re: XML Performance in Client-Server Interactions
FYI, a preliminary discussion related to a subset of the pipeline can found at http://dsd.lbl.gov/nux/api/nux/xom/binary/BinaryXMLCodec.html Wolfgang. On Nov 11, 2004, at 1:44 PM, Roger L. Costello wrote: > Hi Folks, > > I am interested in knowing the state-of-the-art practice > for enhancing the performance of XML-based client-server interactions. > > Let us consider the process of a client sending XML to a server. > Below I identify 3 "parts" to this process: > > Part 1: Client prepares the XML > > Part 2: Transmittal of the XML > > Part 3: Server processes the XML > > Now let us consider each part in turn, with the goal of determining > the state-of-the-art practice for enhancing the performance of each > part. > > Part 1: Client prepares the XML > > At some point the client decides to compose and prepare XML for > transmittal > to > the server. > > Compose the XML > > The method employed to compose XML is highly variable. For example, > XML > could > be composed from a Java program, or from a database query. I will > restrict > this investigation just to considering XML composition from a database > query. > > The time required to compose XML from a database query will vary > depending > on which database is used: Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, native XML versus > relational, etc. > > Question: has anyone done a study comparing the time required to > compose XML > by the different databases? > > Prepare the XML > > Oftentimes the client will choose to validate the XML prior to > transmittal. > Validating XML could potentially take a significant amount of time. > The > time required will vary depending upon these factors: > > - Validation language: which language you use (DTD, XML Schemas, > RelaxNG, > Schematron, OASIS CAM) can determine how long the validation will > take. > > - Parser: which parser you use (e.g., Apache Xerces, XML Spy, etc) can > also > impact the time required to validate. > > Question: has anyone done a study comparing validation times across > validation > languages and validation times across parsers? > > Part 2: Transmittal of the XML > > There is a delay between the moment the client sends the XML to > the moment the server receives the XML. > > Assertion: the dominating factor in determining the length of the > delay is the size of the XML[1]. Small XML chunks gets from client > to server quicker than large XML chunks. > > What are the options for reducing the delay? I am aware of 4 > techniques: > > 1. Compression > 2. Binary encoding > 3. Streaming > 4. Minimize markup > > Technique 1: Compression > > There are numerous XML compression tools. I will list 2 such > tools here: > > - XMill > - Bzip > > Technique 2: Binary encoding > > The W3C has a XML Binary Characterization (XBC) Working Group that is > actively > working to define a standard binary encoding for XML. I believe that > the > fruits > of their labor will not be useable for several years. > > Technique 3: Streaming > > The idea of both HTML streaming as well as XML streaming is to break > up into > small > chunks the data to be transmitted and then successively transmit one > chunk > at a time. > > The SAX event-based model is a form of streaming. > > Question: is it viable to use SAX in a client-server interaction? For > example, if > you are transmitting a SOAP message would it be reasonable to stream > the > SOAP? Is > there such a thing as "SOAP Streaming"? > > Question: is the streaming technique viable for Web Services? > > Technique 4: Minimize markup > > Assertion: XML tags are the source cause for the increase in size of > the XML > data. > > In recognition of this, one solution is to design your XML to minimize > the > number > of tags used. One approach for doing this is to maximize the use of > attributes[2]. > > Question: is the "attribute heavy" approach an effective approach for > reducing delay? > Is it a good approach? > > Question: all 4 techniques above attempt to reduce the delay via > reducing > the > "size" of the data. Are there other things that can be done to the > data > that > would reduce the delay? > > Part 3: Server processes the XML > > The server has now received the XML. The server may choose to > validate it. > In Part 1 > above we discussed the impact on time due to validation. > > After validating the server "processes" the XML. Clearly, what it > means to > "process" > XML is highly variable. I shall restrict the discussion just to > storing > the XML into a database. This is the mirror of that considered in > Part 1, > where > we were interested in the time required to construct XML from a > database > query. The same > issues arise: what database is being used? Is the database a native XML > database or > a relational database? > > Question: has anyone done a performance analysis of storing XML into a > database? > > Summary > > Above I discussed the delays introduced when a client sends XML to a > server. > > Below is a summary of all the delays: > > database ---> XML ---> validate ---> transmit ---> validate ---> > database > T1 T2 T3 T2 T4 > > The time for all the delays are: T1 + 2 * T2 + T3 + T4 > > Have I missed any steps/delays? /Roger > > [1] Obviously there are many factors other than the size of the data > which affect the delay, such as network problems. Those are problems > that the client has no control over. I am focused on the delays due > to the information itself (which the client does have control over). > > [2] Whereas elements have a start-tag/end-tag pair, attributes don't > have > the concept of an "end attribute tag". Thus, by using attributes > you can effectively reduce by half the amount of markup. > > > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > The xml-dev list is sponsored by XML.org <http://www.xml.org>, an > initiative of OASIS <http://www.oasis-open.org> > > The list archives are at http://lists.xml.org/archives/xml-dev/ > > To subscribe or unsubscribe from this list use the subscription > manager: <http://www.oasis-open.org/mlmanage/index.php>
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