this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2024
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[–] [email protected] 180 points 2 months ago (33 children)

Some data formats are easy for humans to read but difficult for computers to efficiently parse. Others, like packed binary data, are dead simple for computers to parse but borderline impossible for a human to read.

XML bucks this trend and bravely proves that data formats do not have to be one or the other by somehow managing to be bad at both.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (4 children)

There are people who find XML hard to read?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Depends on how complex it is. Ever see the XML behind SharePoint? 🤮

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

But is that the fault of XML, or is the data itself just complex, or did they structure the data badly?

Would another human readable format make the data easier to read?

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