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Why XML Doesn't Suck

Posted by michael on from the batter-up dept.

Richard Eriksson writes "Recalling the earlier discussion on why XML sucks for programmers, Tim Bray clarifies his stance on his co-creation, XML, and gets back on his pulpit to declare that XML Doesn't Suck. He writes: 'Let's look at some of XML's chief virtues, then I'll address some of the XML-sucks arguments, in the same spirit that Sammy Sosa addresses a fastball.'"

21 of 384 comments (clear)

  1. Sammy Sosa analogy maybe not the best by cant_get_a_good_nick · · Score: 5, Funny

    in the same spirit that Sammy Sosa addresses a fastball

    You mean he strikes out swinging on three pitches while trying to jack the ball in the stands instead of trying to make contact?

  2. Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Wait a minute... according to a previous /. article, XML did suck. Now I'm cornfoozed.

    What does XML stand for anyway?

    Is it good for anything?

    Will it run Quake?

    1. Re:Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      and most important of all.. does it play OGG Vorbis?

  3. Why XML doesn't suck ... by mustangdavis · · Score: 5, Funny

    .... because people will pay you out the ying-yang to convert their system to use XML ...


    ... enough said!


    Besides, it is a great buzz word!!!


    --
    HallmarkOrnaments.Com
    1. Re:Why XML doesn't suck ... by mrkh · · Score: 3, Funny

      I don't like to admit I'm using XML for just that reason. I generally get one of three reactions:

      1) "XM... did you just say HTML?"

      2) Are you using the .NET parser? Why not?

      3) *left hook*

  4. Hang on... by Quixote · · Score: 5, Funny

    Going from "XML sucks" to "XML doesn't suck" isn't clarifying your stance! It is doing a 360. Even Bill "I didn't have sex with that woman" Clinton would have a tough time with this one.

    1. Re:Hang on... by Quixote · · Score: 3, Funny
      Actually its doing a 180.
      Argh! You are right. I meant "180". Where's the "preview" button on the brain?

    2. Re:Hang on... by HorrorIsland · · Score: 4, Funny
      Even Bill "I didn't have sex with that woman" Clinton would have a tough time with this one.

      "That depends on what the definition of 'sucks' is..."

      No, I can see him saying that.

    3. Re:Hang on... by mirko · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, the question is no more about whether XML sucks or doesn't : the question is whether "that woman" sucked or not :)

      --
      Trolling using another account since 2005.
    4. Re:Hang on... by arnie_apesacrappin · · Score: 2, Funny
      Going from "XML sucks" to "XML doesn't suck" isn't clarifying your stance! It is doing a 360

      This reminds me of the Dilbert strip where Dogbert gives Ratbert a book titled something like:

      "Conversational Geometry for Idiots"

      --

      Still, with a plan, you only get the best you can imagine. I'd always hoped for something better than that. -CP

    5. Re:Hang on... by evilviper · · Score: 2, Funny
      Where's the "preview" button on the brain?

      I added one for myself a few weeks ago when I added a windowed case-mod and neon lights...
      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    6. Re:Hang on... by JebusIsLord · · Score: 2, Funny

      Reminds me of a (bad) joke.

      "Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do."

      --
      Jeremy
  5. XML is so good... by BillGodfrey · · Score: 2, Funny

    http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3252.txt

  6. Geometry doesn't suck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    a 360 from "XML sucks" is "XML sucks"

    try 180.

  7. money laundering via XML by hashmap · · Score: 2, Funny

    send it vith SOAP.

  8. If xml was a programming languge.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    <include file="stdio.xml" />
    <function name="main">
    <if:xml sucks="true">
    <printf>XML sucks as a programming language</printf>
    <else>
    <printf>XML rules as a programming language</printf>
    </else>
    </if:xml>
    </function>

  9. everyone should read ... by B3ryllium · · Score: 2, Funny

    this.

    Some of you may already have read it, but it's on-topic nonetheless. :)

  10. Questions, questions, questions.... by mnemotronic · · Score: 2, Funny

    • How is "XML" pronounced?
    • Just the letters "X" "M" "L" ?
    • "Zee mul" ?
    • "Smell" ?
    • "A standard until it was compromised by Microsoft" ?

    How do I encode properties (fields) of my data: child elements or element attributes?

    How do I join the preceding-sibling namespace descendent ancestor-or-self following axis of evil?

    --
    The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
  11. Re:Some people just don't "get" XML by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Repeat after me, XML is NOT a language.

    OK
    So what does the 'L' stand for?

  12. XML for Koan by SuperKendall · · Score: 2, Funny

    From article:
    "XML Can Represent Pretty Well Anything"
    "XML has been used to represent, without loss of information...yearly calendars, and Zen koans. OK, I don't know for sure about the koans."

    <koan attribute_to="Chao-chou">
    <question asked_by="random monk">
    Does a dog have Buddha-nature or not?
    </question>
    <response master="true" smileQuizzically="true" useMuResponse="true"/>
    </koan>

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  13. Re:nuts! by MeanMF · · Score: 4, Funny

    if you were trying to convey the fact that MS has embraced and extended the fsck out of XML, thus totally destroying it and not properly implementing it, then yes, I would agree...

    Micro$oft sure has some balls extending the "eXtensible Markup Language"...