Is XML the Answer to Everything? Posted by Rotundo on Monday October 11, @07:15PM EDT from the angle-brackets-will-save-us dept. MarkupMarcy writes "Every trade magazine on my desk this month has XML on the cover. It will apparently replace EDI, databases, HTML, configuration files and possibly my toaster. As someone who has to actually write the parsers, I'd like to ask: what problem does XML solve that a well-specified text format didn't already?" Answer in well-formed comments, please. Close your tags. Is XML the Answer to Everything? | Login/Create an Account | Top | 29 comments | Search Discussion Threshold: -1: 29 comments 0: 24 comments 1: 16 comments 2: 9 comments 3: 6 comments 4: 2 comments 5: 1 comments NestedFlatThreadedNo Comments Oldest FirstNewest FirstHighest Scores First The fine print: the following comments belong to whoever typed them. Dashdot takes no responsibility for them, and frankly, neither do most of the people who typed them. It's just syntax by SpudGun on Monday October 11, @07:30PM EDT (#2) (User Info) XML is just a syntax for trees. It doesn't solve the hard problem, which is agreeing on what the tags mean. Two companies using XML can still be completely incompatible. [ Reply to This ] Re:It's just syntax by CourtWatcher on Monday October 11, @07:49PM EDT (#5) (User Info) Source? My brother-in-law says otherwise, and he has a Pentode. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:It's just syntax by WindowManiac on Monday October 11, @08:07PM EDT (#7) (User Info) Hey, at least it's not Portals. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:It's just syntax by Speculatron on Monday October 11, @08:22PM EDT (#8) (User Info) Agreed. Couldn't have said it better myself. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:It's just syntax by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 11, @09:15PM EDT (#14) Wait until you see the next version. It's going to be worse. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:It's just syntax by kludge_king on Monday October 11, @09:56PM EDT (#18) (User Info) So what you're saying is that it's a conspiracy. Got it. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:It's just syntax by shell_shocked on Monday October 11, @08:45PM EDT (#11) (User Info) Actually, that's a common misconception. The spec explicitly allows it; it's the vendors who didn't implement it. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:It's just syntax by ladybug_lisp on Monday October 11, @08:27PM EDT (#9) (User Info) Not true at all. I've been running it for months with no problems. Maybe check your hardware? [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:It's just syntax by DayTraderDan on Monday October 11, @08:44PM EDT (#10) (User Info) This. A thousand times this. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:It's just syntax by cyber_wombat on Monday October 11, @09:04PM EDT (#13) (User Info) This is the most sensible thing I've read on Dashdot all week. Somebody mod this up. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Re:It's just syntax by Anonymous Coward (Score:0) Re:It's just syntax by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 11, @11:07PM EDT (#26) Real men use a magnetized needle and a steady hand. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Free parsers by Rotundo on Monday October 11, @07:39PM EDT (#4) (User Info) The win is that you never have to write a parser again. That alone is worth a lot. [ Reply to This ] BSD: a eulogy by overclocked_otter on Monday October 11, @08:58PM EDT (#12) (User Info) Sad news, everyone. Analysts at a firm I just made up report that BSD now runs on fewer than 4% of servers, down from 4.1% last spring. Even the daemon mascot has been seen updating his resume. Gather round, friends, and light a candle for the little OS that could, but statistically shouldn't. [ Reply to This ] Answer: 42 by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 11, @09:34PM EDT (#16) The answer, of course, is 42. What was the question? [ Reply to This ] Does it run Linix? by Anonymous Coward (Score:0) Re:Does it run Linix? by NavNerd on Monday October 11, @11:27PM EDT (#28) (User Info) You must be new here. [ Reply to This | Parent ] Toaster by StylusSam on Monday October 11, @11:31PM EDT (#29) (User Info) <toaster><bread state='burnt'/></toaster>. See? It works. [ Reply to This ] 13 replies beneath your current threshold. Show them all (threshold -1).

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