If you think XML is bad

Then consider this, as it could be a lot worse:

UNA:+.? 'UNB+UNOC:2+STUB+BLA+960209:0843+72'UNH+0000090001+ORDERS:D:93A:UN:EAN007'BGM+220+B00404'DTM+137:19960209:102'NAD+BY+++STADT- UND UNIVERSITAETSBIBLIOTHEK:FRANKFURT+BOCKENHEIMER LANDSTR. 134-138+FRANKFURT+++DE'RFF+API:DE114110388'RFF+IT:STUB'NAD+SU+++B.H.BLACKWELL'CUX+2:GBP:9'LIN+1'PIA+5+0471949086:IB'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRQ+YYY:37.5:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:10'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8216'RFF+BFN:S.KON.41'LIN+2'PIA+5+0471949000:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Cherry'IMD+F+011+:::Gordon E'IMD+F+050+:::Birmingham'IMD+F+060+:::a study in geography, hislanning'IMD+F+110+:::Chichester'IMD+F+120+:::Wiley(John)(W Sussex)'IMD+F+170+:::1994'IMD+F+180+:::254p'IMD+F+181+:::?: ill ; 24cm. - Bibl.?: P.237-244.'IMD+F+270+:::39100200?:Urban studies'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:37.5:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:9'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8217'RFF+BFN:S.KON.39'LIN+3'PIA+5+0471957542:IB'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:45:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:11'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8218'RFF+BFN:S.KON.41'LIN+4'PIA+5+0521435145:IB'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:65:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:13'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8220'RFF+BFN:S.KON.07'LIN+5'PIA+5+0077090632:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Wenlock'IMD+F+011+:::Alison'IMD+F+050+:::The AS/400'IMD+F+060+:::built for business'IMD+F+110+:::London'IMD+F+120+:::McGraw-Hill Book Co in Europe'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::134p'IMD+F+181+:::; 25cm. - Index'IMD+F+190+:::The IBM McGraw-Hill series'IMD+F+270+:::61100200?:Computers'IMD+F+300+:::1st Series Id?:E1678043'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:24.95:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:1'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8221'RFF+BFN:S.KON.41'LIN+6'PIA+5+0521474620:IB'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:65:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:14'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8222'RFF+BFN:S.KON.41'LIN+7'PIA+5+0133361993:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Shepperd'IMD+F+011+:::Martin'IMD+F+050+:::Foundations of software measurement'IMD+F+110+:::Hemel Hempstead'IMD+F+120+:::Prentice-Hall Interl Inc'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::234p'IMD+F+181+:::; 24cm. - Bibls. - Index'IMD+F+270+:::61305050?:Software engineering'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:19.95:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:3'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8224'RFF+BFN:S.KON.13'LIN+8'PIA+5+0198549512:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Evans'IMD+F+011+:::Julian'IMD+F+050+:::A wood of our own'IMD+F+110+:::Oxford'IMD+F+120+:::Oxford University Press'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::158p'IMD+F+181+:::?: ill ; 25cm'IMD+F+270+:::76020000?:Forestry'IMD+F+300+:::Note?:Julian Evans ; with illustrati:ions by John White and Stephen Evan'IMD+F+300+:::s'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:17.99:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:4'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8225'RFF+BFN:S.KON.23'LIN+9'PIA+5+0333628896:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Barraclough'IMD+F+011+:::Solon L'IMD+F+050+:::Forests and livelihoods'IMD+F+060+:::the social dynamics of den in devel:oping countries'IMD+F+110+:::London'IMD+F+120+:::Macmillan Publishers'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::259p'IMD+F+181+:::; 23cm. - Bibl.?: p.245-253. - Inde'IMD+F+270+:::76302500?:Tropical forests'IMD+F+300+:::Note?:by Solon L. Barraclough and Kr:rishna B. Ghimire'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:45:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:6'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8227'RFF+BFN:S.KON.23'LIN+10'PIA+5+0333645545:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Tyrrell'IMD+F+011+:::A J'IMD+F+050+:::Eiffel object-oriented programming'IMD+F+110+:::London'IMD+F+120+:::Macmillan Publishers'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::283p'IMD+F+181+:::; 24cm. - Bibl.?: p.281. - Index'IMD+F+190+:::Macmillan computer science series'IMD+F+270+:::61305015?:Object-oriented programmin:g'IMD+F+300+:::1st Series Id?:E1108662'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:16.99:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:7'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8228'RFF+BFN:S.KON.13'UNS+S'CNT+2:10'UNT+165+0000090001'UNH+0000170001+ORDERS:D:93A:UN:EAN007'BGM+224+B00405'DTM+137:19960209:102'NAD+BY+++STADT- UND UNIVERSITAETSBIBLIOTHEK:FRANKFURT+BOCKENHEIMER LANDSTR. 134-138+FRANKFURT+++DE'RFF+API:DE114110388'RFF+IT:STUB'NAD+SU+++B.H.BLACKWELL'CUX+2:GBP:9'LIN+1'PIA+5+0471960047:IB'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:40:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:12'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8219'RFF+BFN:S.KON.E.631'LIN+2'PIA+5+0126487200:IB'IMD+F+050+:::The Multimedia dictionary'IMD+F+110+:::London'IMD+F+120+:::Academic Press'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::351p'IMD+F+181+:::; ; 23cm'IMD+F+270+:::61756500?:Multi-media applications'IMD+F+300+:::Note?:edited by H. Sleurink'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDLIBE'PRI+YYY:19.95:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:2'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8223'RFF+BFN:S.KON.13'LIN+3'PIA+5+0333556453:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Medema'IMD+F+011+:::Steven G'IMD+F+050+:::Ronald H. Coase'IMD+F+110+:::London'IMD+F+120+:::Macmillan Publishers'IMD+F+170+:::1994'IMD+F+180+:::205p'IMD+F+181+:::; 23cm. - Bibl.?: p.192-203. - Inde'IMD+F+270+:::27651202?:Economic analysis/theory'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDLIBE'PRI+YYY:40:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:5'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8226'RFF+BFN:S.KON.07'UNS+S'CNT+2:3'UNT+55+0000170001'UNZ+2+72'

XML isn't bad in and of itself -- it succeeds at being a markup language that is trivially machine readable and easy for humans to understand. Is it bloated? Sure. But so are lots of other markup languages.

XML sucks because ENTERPRISE programmers misuse it -- think about it.

Fuck, I've seen a dumbass programmer pass this shit over a socket (you think I am kidding BUT I AM NOT:

<sometoolname>
<status>1</status>
</sometoolname>

Jesus fucking Christ. I always ask them why they DO THAT, and the answer boils down to some dumbfuckery like "easy to detect errors", "understandable by machines and humans", etc. Then they show me, with pride, this fifty fucking line program that opens a socket, waits for input, and BUILDS A FUCKING DOM TREE TO GET THE 1 OUT.

Then I show them my program that I wrote in C that does the same thing three times as fast, with no unneeded dependencies (minus standard net libraries), and all I pass is ONE FUCKING BYTE ACROSS THE NETWORKS. PROTIP: Mine is much easier to parse, thank you.

I blame "Computer and Information Science" curriculum, which trains these idiots in all the latest rage (XML, whatever language Microsoft decided to add to .NET, etc) and puts them out in the world... they don't have a fucking clue what's really going on.