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I am going to start right off and say that Itunes for the Apple Ipod uses XML to read in its library. If you guys out there have the Apple Ipod, go into Itunes and in the File menu, click on export song list, and the only format will be XML.
MS Office 2003 supports it indefinitely and has good support for it.
I also want to rehash my scenario that I taught a secretary for one of my client XML which we used to send out bulk emails in MS Outlook. She found HTML to difficult to learn. With XML I created a web language that could fit her intelligence (and yes, she is dumb when it comes to computers).
You guys may not realize that anybody who learns XML is in a good place. Yes, I understand that some people understand that it does not have its places on web pages, but that is only because it is still young yet. I believe that XML will be a very lucrative skill in the very near future to anybody who is willing to learn it.
Hey, do you think your clients will want to learn ASP, PHP, MySQL, and Visual Basic? Even HTML is too hard to most people, but XML is very straightforward. When you tell people that they can help you create a language at their own preference and whims, can you imagine how much money you can make just by giving people this service.
Compared to HTML, XML can be an "ENGLISH" language or customized for anybody's native tongue.
Hey, what looks more readable for a JPEG file, the <IMG> tag in HTML or the <PHOTO> tag in XML?
What if your client wants to create a hyperlink? Will they feel more comfortable using <A HREF> in HTML or <hyperlink> in XML?
Even Paypal's developer network accepts XML as well as Amazon's affiliate network.
Also, for those of you who are database developers like me, consider that if you want one of your co-workers to help you edit your data, but you don't want them to have access to your database, then write an ASP script to read in an XML file and have it write the database records. This way, your co-worker cannot screw up your database like the issue that happened to me. So, XML can also be pretty secure as well.
I can go on, but I think people should stop wondering if XML is overhyped or if ASP and SQL is better. ASP and SQL are very good and I use all those languages, nobody in their right mind will share their databases with anybody. With XML, that is not even an issue.
Bruce
There are plenty of people out there who aren't very good technically that think taht XML should be used anywhere and everywhere which just isn't the case.
I personally don't think it has been deliberately overhyped.
The problem comes when a non-technical person will overhear two technical people talking about how brilliant XML is. Because XML is wonderful, the non technical person hears this a lot from people, magazines, websites etc. without really understanding why it is so wonderful.
Then they start talking to other non technical people about this great new wonderous thing called XML and how it's the answer to all their problems, and the snowball effect continues.
Then it gets to the point where when they're hiring technical people, they get to a point where they believe that if someone advises against using XML then they must be a bad developer! After all in their minds, XML is the all-encompasing answer to their prayers that can solve any problem, how can it not be the best solution to the problem!
Then they surround themselves with technical people that either, aren't very good or are stringing them along, writing XML apps when there's no need. So now they're surronded by people who tell them how great XML is and how great their application is because it is based around XML. Threy rarely hear any different and when they do, they just assume that the other person isn't as clued up as they are.
I also want to rehash my scenario that I taught a secretary for one of my client XML which we used to send out bulk emails in MS Outlook. She found HTML to difficult to learn. With XML I created a web language that could fit her intelligence
Personally, I'd write a user-friendly front end. You know, something that looks like a word processor and produces clean HTML?
You're doing the equivalent of asking her to create a word processor document by learning the RTF format and entering it all in by hand with a text editor.
and yes, she is dumb when it comes to computers
Why did you hire her then?
Even Paypal's developer network accepts XML as well as Amazon's affiliate network.
That's because the developer network is for developers. Amazon don't expect every user to buy for their items by typing out a XML document in the way that you expect your secretary to.
Also, for those of you who are database developers like me, consider that if you want one of your co-workers to help you edit your data, but you don't want them to have access to your database, then write an ASP script to read in an XML file and have it write the database records.
Ever heard of SQL?
This way, your co-worker cannot screw up your database like the issue that happened to me.
LOL! Have you ever wondered why he did that?
I think your secretary deserves a medal for putting up with you.
Is that good? In cases where the data is amenable to having markup tags embedded in it; and when the semantic information being communicated is strictly hierarchical; and when the bandwith overhead of embedding the mark up does not degrade the application -- then yes, it can do very well.
But they aren't universal conditions for information interchange. Trying to use XML where it doesn't fit, is a major pain.
...people should stop wondering if XML is overhyped or if ASP and SQL is better
ASP is a multi-language scripting environment for dynamic web pages, SQL is a language for querying relational databases, and XML is a text file format. As you seem to be equating the first two technologies with XML, it would appear your post has just confirmed that, yes, XML is fantastically overhyped ;)
XML is not a replacement for databases or programming languages.
Hey, do you think your clients will want to learn ASP, PHP, MySQL, and Visual Basic?
We use these things to build a "graphical user interface". This helps the end user by managing the nitty-gritty stuff like maintaining relational integrity, checking for null values, enforcing data types, encoding special characters etc.
XML is not a replacement for user interfaces.
So, XML can also be pretty secure as well.
In your scenario any security/integrity/consistency comes from your process (making a copy of the data then checking it before using it to update your database) not the data format.
XML is not a replacement for business rules.
XML (+ related technologies) is another useful tool in the toolbox. It is not a replacement for all the other tools, and does not do away with the toolbox!
With Xquery, it works just like SQL and it is secure, when sued with ASP and SQL to reinsert the data back into the SQL database using ASP, but the data comes from XML, it works pretty well.
