> The impression I have is that (to misquote Churchill) XML is the worst > option available, except for all the others. We need something that can > represent a fairly complex data structure, easily supports addition or > removal of particular fields in the structure (including fields not > foreseen in the original design), is not hard for programs to parse, > and is widely supported --- ie, "not hard" includes "you don't have to > write your own parser, in most languages". How many realistic > alternatives are there? > > One realistic alternative may be JSON: parsers for nearly all languages are freely available; everything web-affected speeks it perfectly; it's easier on the eye then XML, less bytes per information, addition and removal of fields as well as complex structures are possible.
Harald -- GHUM Harald Massa persuadere et programmare Harald Armin Massa Spielberger Straße 49 70435 Stuttgart 0173/9409607 no fx, no carrier pigeon - LASIK good, steroids bad?