Article:		Binary XML, Again
Subject:		Why Johnny Can't Gzip...
Date:		2007-01-10 09:27:35
From:		Argent
"I submit that we can reasonably draw an inference from the absence of widespread use of gzip'd-raw-XML-instances -- namely, that this isn't a live issue for XML developers, and that Harold is right about the desire of vendors to go proprietary in the XML space." I submit that the reason for the absence of widespread use of gzipped raw XML is that the people who need a more compact serialization format than raw XML are using something other than XML. There's lots of ways to serialize a data structure... from ASN.1 down to hardcoded bit-level structures like IP headers. The Electronic Arts Interchange File Format and its derivitives are popular: Midi files and PNG are both basically a streamable version of IFF. For data that's organized like a relation rather than a tree there's CSV and other columnar-file formats. If XML wants to play in this space it needs not just a binary format, but it needs to abandon the goal of making every chunk of data self-describing (and, of course, it's already missed that boat anyway).

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