RE: [xml-dev] IEEE Computer: "XML Raises Concerns" (Was Re: [xml-dev] XML Sucks)

["Foster, Warwick" <Warwick.Foster@ato.gov.au>]

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Were is the worry? Trade-offs, bang-for-buck and profit-loss will all result
in XML staying as it is a healthy solution for a lot of problems. It is not
design to solve every problem in the world but why bag it when it does some
really cool things.

1. Infrastructure.
Processor and storage products far outstretch the needs of XML. It is
correct to say the XML has more information than HTML, but isnt that really
the benefit and also trade off that your looking for. 

2. Security Concerns.
If a file exists in HTML, Word, Excel, PDF or any other office type product
is it any less secure? Unless the article was talking about system
transaction, like in SOAP, I don't see the difference from what has been
happening for the last ten to fifteen years.

3. XHTML.
If the developer chooses to migrate straight to a pure XML solution then I
don't understand that problem. You develop you schema/DTD, develop you
migration system complete with error calculation and migrate your data into
a markup container language. Presumably you have also established
infrastructure for editing your new system and producing content from it. Or
should we alternately just do a Save As from Word to HTML and throw it up
onto the Internet. 



Warwick Foster
Australian Taxation Office
RMS Operations
(03) 92752960



-----Original Message-----
From: Mitch Amiano [mailto:mamiano@nc.rr.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, 7 May 2003 12:58
Cc: xml-dev@lists.xml.org
Subject: [xml-dev] IEEE Computer: "XML Raises Concerns" (Was Re: [xml-dev]
XML Sucks)


I'll raise the recent piece by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, "XML Raises
Concerns as it Gains Prominence," in the May issue of IEEE Computer mag as a
less well considered criticism of XML. 


The article says XML raises several key concerns, among them:
1) because they provide considerable information about a document's content,
xml files include much more data than HTML files. This is a burden to a
company's network, processor and storage infrastructures. 
2) extensively describing a document's contents and appearing in plain text
creates security concerns.
3) many developers may not be cooperating with the effort to transition to
XML via XHTML. 


Proposed solutions
1) buy a centralized $35k + appliance to translate between XML and binary
formats
2) use and XML firewall to inspect each packet, deploy extensive directory
services, and use secure sockets.
3) none suggested. "This transition would force [developers] to learn a new
set of skills and require them to rewrite their older code..." 

Contrasted to the Hunt and Thomas article, articles like this make me worry.




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