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'

>>3
Because?
1. Fucked up structure (#text, attributes vs content, order matters - sometimes, etc.)
2. Unnecessarily verbose <LOL> </LOL>
3. Stupid parsing rules around EOLs and such, unsafe
4. Stupid namespaces and enterprise features nobody needed if they used it for what it was supposed to be used for
5. Full of enterprise bullshit and enterprise morons abusing it everywhere, filling the world with their enterprise XML-based shit
6. Suboptimal; I wanted a portable, multi-language, binary-safe, flexible grammar processing tool that could export an object model based on *any* grammar I could define so I could use existing file formats, binary data, etc.