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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bullard, Claude L (Len) [mailto:len.bullard@intergraph.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 2:24 PM
> To: 'Chiusano Joseph'; 'xml-dev@lists.xml.org'
> Subject: RE: [xml-dev] Why XML for Messaging?
>
> It isn't fast enough when used wall-to-wall. I read
> about tuning parsers, etc., but if I am doing that,
> I am not using off-the-shelf COTS. So why bother?
So create a format tuned for your scenario, and stick XML APIs on both
ends to support plugging into existing XML machinery. This begets the
whole binary-xml question. The issue is not one of making a faster
format; that is easy. The issue is making a format that is enough
faster in enough different scenarios, to make it better than
individually tuned formats. CSV may be optimal for you, so use it. As
has been brought up, there are cases where CSV doesn't work (embedded
commas, newlines, nested structure, etc). As Dare commented, XML isn't
about being the best at anything. It is about being the good-enough for
the widest variety.
> Still, what will replace XML? What will it look like?
> Is it hiding in the tall grass or is it laying on
> the shelf at Sun? It's a fun question.
I don't think there is anything out there today that will 'replace' XML.
To replace XML it would have to provide enough benefit in enough
scenarios to justify moving existing systems. For most users, none of
the current proposals for something XML-Like (be it simplified XML or
binary-xml), are really necessary. XML's reach is already being
extended by using custom alternate formats in tightly coupled systems.
That trend is likely to continue, but for the near term, it is likely to
exist as an optimization path. XML-text will still be the primary
model. That model isn't likely to change until enough XML is rolled
out, that XML developers start to really become fed up with XML's
limitations due to it's origins as a 'document' format. Why can't a
user escape arbitrary characters both in content, but also in names? As
XML becomes increasingly used to communicate between systems, which do
not share its origins in text markup, these will become increasingly
problematic issues.
Just like XML is a SGML, generalized for the WWW markup, someday we will
see a new text format supplant XML that is generalized for _data_
exchange... or whatever need is found that XML does not quite fit.
-derek
Disclaimer: the above is my personal view and is independent of my
employer
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