Hi Joe
I concede in advance that this is probably a nitpick :), but the name of the
tag shouldn't matter. All you really need to be able to do is know what the
name of the tag you expect in the incoming XML is and be able to map it to
an appropriate column in your database. Having a tag that is descriptive as
in your example is useful and logical but not mandatory.
Can I also add that the JSON thread has been really enlightening - it was
not something I had actually looked into so thanks for bringing it up.
Regards
Evan Harris
-----Original Message-----
<Stuff snipped>
XML itself doesn't buy you this, although the schema does indeed provide
some standardization. However, the idea of standardization of
information is way larger than XML vs. JSON. For example, take an XML
document like this:
<person>
<firstname>Joe</firstname>
<lastname>Pluta</lastname>
</person>
Depending on your viewpoint, even this simple document has major
deficiencies, even if has a schema. For example, in French, the tag
should be prenom, not firstname. So now you need a meta-schema that
allows flexible nomenclature. But it doesn't end there: some cultures
don't have the same concept of first and last name. So now you need to
have flexible structures.
And this is just for names! Imagine what happens with business
terminology. The concept of meta-information can get so involved that
you spend most of your time just figuring out the next structural
nuance. And while that's probably important if you need informational
transparency for global communication, I'm usually okay with simplicity
(and efficiency) over flexibility, within reason.
Joe
midrange.com
