January 02, 2003

XML, pro or con?

Zapthink has a free report called The Pros and Cons of XML. They list a variety of points, and counterpoints:

Pro: XML is a structured text format
Pro: XML is designed with the Internet in mind
Pro: XML processing technology is widespread, easily available, and cheap
Pro: XML is Human-Readable
Pro: XML is very flexible – you can define other languages with XML
Pro: XML separates process from content
Pro: XML documents can be validated using a Validating Parser
Pro: XML systems are lower cost than other alternatives. They finally enable small and medium-sized organizations to participate.
Pro: XML is open. It is influenced by a number of standards organizations
Pro: Agreement on a common DTD or Schema results in exchangeable documents
Pro: There are an increasing number of individuals with XML skills.
Pro: Business and technical management positively view XML technologies.
Pro: XML can leverage existing security solutions.
Pro: XML is license-free, platform-neutral, and widely supported
Pro: XML can be viewed with simple tools such as browsers
Pro: XML supports complicated and focused searching needs
Pro: XML enables e-Business
Pro: XML is easily internationalized.
Pro: The Time is Right.
Con: XML is a space, processor, and bandwidth hog
Con: XML is just a document, not a programming language or a solution for world peace.
Con: If XML is so similar to HTML and SGML, why aren’t those languages sufficient?
Con: Every XML format can become a "proprietary" XML format
Con: XML is great for text, but awful for binary data
Con: XML is a regression from centralized, efficient database systems to inefficient file processing
Con: XML specifications are not yet complete or tested
Con: XML DTDs are insufficient for most business and industrial-strength applications, and XML Schema is too complex
Con: XML will never completely replace other technologies, like EDI.

I'm not going to address any of the specific arguments, but I do have a couple of quasi-random thooughts:


  • This looks like one of the many religious arguments that dot the web (Mac v. PC, Flash v. no Flash, tables v. CSS, etc). The answer in this case is that XML is great in some applications, and no so great in others.

  • This is not an intro to XML. Look elsewhere for that (there are plenty of places with tutorials, etc). But, it does provide a great overview to all of the issues surrounding the technology.

  • XML has been a "hot" technology for a while now. With Office 11 (XML-based) coming out soon, it'll stay hot for a while.