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[via Joshua Allen [via Sean Palmer]] – Thedor Holm Nelson explains why XML Is Evil
If you strip away the rants from Ted’s post and get to the core, he is basically saying that when you use XML, it forces the developer to impose a hierarchy to the data, which may or may not be the true structure of the data. In that regard, Ted is entirely correct. Over use of XML is just as bad as under use. We had the exact same problem in the 80’s and 90’s with relational databases (which still linger today). Everything was forced to fit into a relational model, even if it wasn’t relational in nature. (See DaveM's great lookup table debate - 4 Developers and a DBA or “Just a Couple Tables“)
So XML isn’t really evil, it is the developer (or architect) that makes XML evil. I guess it is sort of like The Force, it could be used for good or evil. It just depends on the way that the Jedi uses it.
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About donxml
I’m an independent consultant, specializing in .Net solutions architecture, based out of New Jersey who also doubles as an evangelist for XML, Domain Driven Design, enterprise architecture and .Net. I do not work for Microsoft, the W3C or any other big company that you may know of (at least not yet). I’ve been an indie for over ten years, and although I’ve been tempted a couple times to take a job with companies like Microsoft, I’ve haven’t found something better than my current situation. I work mostly with the large pharmaceuticals that are based here in New Jersey, and usually find myself on long term contracts. Definitely not the prototypical indie consultant, but it lets me dedicate time to my non-income generating activities like the developer community stuff, plus financing open source projects like XPathmania and MVP-XML. If you would like to talk to me about doing some contract work, just contact me via the contact page. My rates vary widely, depending on lots of different variables, but mostly distance from Jersey, and type of work. Plus, I’ve been known to donate some of my code for various projects.