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The lost art of XML — mmagueta (marcosmagueta.com)
submitted 3 days ago by Kissaki@programming.dev to c/programming@programming.dev
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There exists a peculiar amnesia in software engineering regarding XML. Mention it in most circles and you will receive knowing smiles, dismissive waves, the sort of patronizing acknowledgment reserved for technologies deemed passé. "Oh, XML," they say, as if the very syllables carry the weight of obsolescence. "We use JSON now. Much cleaner."

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[-] Feyd@programming.dev 14 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

In HTML, which things are attributes and which things are tags are part of the spec. With XML that is being used for something arbitrary, someone is making the choice every time. They might have a different opinion than you do, or even the same opinion, but make different judgments on occasion. In JSON, there are fewer choices, so fewer chances for people to be surprised by other people's choices.

[-] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I mean, yeah. But people don't just do things randomly. Most people put data in the body and metadata in attributes just like html.

this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2026
66 points (93.4% liked)

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