Re: [xml-dev] Re: [ubl-dev] Top 10 uses of XML in 2007

[Elliotte Harold <elharo@metalab.unc.edu>]

Stephen Green wrote:
> Hi David
> 
> I agree that when we are doing B2B then there may be in many cases
> compression already. In non-B2B though, such as within an
> organisation network or intranet, I would see binary XML as becoming
> commonplace to increase performance. 

And the evidence you have that it will do this is what exactly? A lot of 
people are working under twenty year old assumptions about what is and 
is not fast, that haven't been true for years. Binary formats are not a 
magic panacea to improve performance. In many cases, XML is actually 
smaller than competing binary formats. (Compare OpenDocument to the 
equivalent Microsoft Office binary, for example.)

There are a lot of myths and wild guesses about performance. I don't 
doubt that people who never bother to crack open an analyzer or write a 
good benchmark will switch to binary XML for no good reason. That's a 
big reason I oppose it. The only areas in which the arguments for binary 
XML are the least bit compelling are in the wireless space, and that has 
a lot more to do with battery life than document size.

-- 
Elliotte Rusty Harold  elharo@metalab.unc.edu
Java I/O 2nd Edition Just Published!
http://www.cafeaulait.org/books/javaio2/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0596527500/ref=nosim/cafeaulaitA/