20.02.2007 : 2007 is the year of XML...

... well we've been saying this for years but according to our esteemed brothers and sisters over at IBM, XML has finally reached a level of maturity that will see it take off drastically within industry.

The thrust of this article is that now that larger companies such as Oracle are starting to use XML within their software, it will finally drive usage of the technology into new areas.

Certainly they've hit the nail on the head here:

Most important, many problems are much easier to solve with a native XML database and XQuery than with a relational database and Structured Query Language (SQL). SQL databases are powerful and useful, and they're not going away. However, they've never been a good fit for the Web; and more applications these days are Web based than not. Programs like WordPress and MediaWiki sit on top of relational databases because those were the tools the developers had at hand, not because they were the right tools for the job.

This is exactly the reason the XML Infinity project was started 5 years ago now and why clients are coming to us to provide Content Management. The fit is much better [and cheaper] than a traditional database.

Integration across the board is a lot easier and cheaper with the ability to morph information from one format to another with ease.

XML is no longer the sexy new technology it once was. It has increasingly become a boring part of the infrastructure. However, that's a far more important role to play. The question that must be answered is no longer "Why XML?" but "Why not XML?" XML is the default choice for data. It isn't always the right answer; but it's right more often than it's wrong; and in 2007, that will be more true than ever.

We've been using XML since helping on the draft spec over a decade ago. We're glad that IBM are finally on the bandwagon with us.

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