Re: [xml-dev] Is the binary file format dead?

[Michael Kay <mike@saxonica.com>]

On 30 Oct 2013, at 11:58, Costello, Roger L. <costello@mitre.org> wrote:

> Hi Folks,
> 
> In my mind, the universe of computer files falls into two categories:
> 
> 1. Binary files
> 2. Text files
> 

These are not distinct categories, they are layers: text files are streams of characters encoded as streams of bytes.

I wouldn't expect to see an Oracle database stored on disk as a text file. The same goes for compiled code. So the answer to your question is no.

It has to be said that for data interchange, text-based formats have proven advantages. But even there, there are cases where optimization to save space can be justified: hence EXI.

Michael Kay
Saxonica