Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Binary XML to come soon to a computer near you, this summer

"Faster XML Ahead?"
CNet (03/23/05); LaMonica, Martin

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Advisory Committee and director are set to decide on a committee recommendation for a binary XML standard, and if the proposal is approved, a vote on a binary XML standard could occur this summer; if formed soon after, a working group could take up to three years to complete the specification. Binary XML would bolster XML adoption in mobile communications and embedded computing, where the bulky text format eats up battery power in cell phones and slows critical embedded applications in Air Force jets, for example. In February, W3C meeting attendees argued against the creation of a new standard, saying existing binary XML implementations were sufficient or that other measures could solve the problem without introducing a questionable specification. Current XML performance is not so bad and complaints about XML processing speed are similar to early complaints about the World Wide Web being too slow, says Iona Technologies CTO Eric Newcomer. Among the options for making text-based XML faster is completely rewriting the parser programs used to process XML data, and Sun Microsystems is working on a Fast InfoSet project that would reportedly accelerate XML anywhere between two and 10 times. There are more than a dozen industry-specific binary XML efforts already in use or in development, and a W3C standard might not sufficiently meet the needs of those applications, says Microsoft SQL Server database program manager Michael Rys. Another concern is that a binary XML standard would not be widely adopted; Rys notes that XML 1.1 has not met expectations and that Microsoft has not yet supported the specification because of backwards-compatibility fears.


Full Article: http://news.com.com/Faster+XML+ahead/2100-1007_3-5630957.html

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