[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Not using mixed content? Then don't use XML
Hi Folks, First a few definitions: ---------------- Sweet spot ---------------- A place where there a maximum response for a given amount of effort. -------------------- Mixed content -------------------- An element has mixed content if its content is a mix of data and elements. Here is an example of mixed content: <condition>The patient exhibited <emp>extreme</emp> arrhythmia</condition> -------------------------------------------------------------- Data-centric versus Document-centric content -------------------------------------------------------------- Data-centric content is where there is no mixed content, document-centric content is where there is mixed content. ----------------------------- Semi-structured data ----------------------------- A synonym for mixed content. Okay, now for the issue at hand: Should you use XML? Sean McGrath says [1]: XML's sweet spot is mixed content. If you are not using mixed content, then there are a trillion and one ways of representing data-centric content, most programming languages do it out-of-the-box. If you absolutely, totally, never, ever will need mixed content then there are sane alternatives to XML. There always has been alternatives, from humble CSV up to fancier JSON/Python/Ruby direct data expression languages. A huge chunk of the world doesn't need mixed content or even know what it is. It has always been a source of worry that folks with perfectly good relational data sets have felt compelled by buzz-pressure to put their content into XML - very little gain in the general case. Professor Daniel Lemire says [2]: XML is great for dealing with semi-structured data. Alas, we ended up torturing XML by applying it to ill-suited purposes. We must learn how to select the best format. Does your data look like a table? Can a flat file do the job? Do you need a key-value format like JSON? Or maybe a simple text file? Take a good look at your data before picking a format for it. Conclusion: If your problem doesn't need mixed content, then don't use XML. Comments? /Roger [1] http://seanmcgrath.blogspot.com/2007/01/mixed-content-trying-to-understand-json.html [2] http://lemire.me/blog/archives/2010/11/17/you-probably-misunderstand-xml/
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