When XML Beats JSON: UI Layouts
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When XML Beats JSON: UI Layouts
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Re: When XML Beats JSON: UI Layouts
#2The ability to extend an existing element with attributes is super useful in XML. To do an equivalent in JSON is quite ugly.
Re: When XML Beats JSON: UI Layouts
#3No one should really be writing UI code by modifying a file by hand because UIs are often complex and deep, so the file structure used to store the UI data doesn't need to be human-readable.
This is true for any data - once you hit a moderate level of complexity neither JSON or XML really work - you need to build a tool to manipulate the underlying data rather than changing it directly. If you do that then it doesn't matter how readable or 'ugly' the data is because a human being shouldn't need to access it directly. This leads to other benefits you can optimize for like size or parsing speed or redundancy instead.
Re: When XML Beats JSON: UI Layouts
#4No one should really be writing UI code by modifying a file by hand because UIs are often complex and deep, so the file structure used to store the UI data doesn't need to be human-readable. This is true for any data - once you hit a moderate level of complexity neither JSON or XML really work - you need to build a tool to manipulate the underlying data rather than changing it directly. If you do that then it doesn't…
so we shouldn't write HTML by hand, but instead use WYSIWYG editors?
Re: When XML Beats JSON: UI Layouts
#5No one should really be writing UI code by modifying a file by hand because UIs are often complex and deep, so the file structure used to store the UI data doesn't need to be human-readable. This is true for any data - once you hit a moderate level of complexity neither JSON or XML really work - you need to build a tool to manipulate the underlying data rather than changing it directly. If you do that then it doesn't…
Following what you say we should only have binary format.
I think you underestimate the convenience of a text format.
It does not only provide a simple way to generate it, but also provide a way to modify it by hand.
Re: When XML Beats JSON: UI Layouts
#6Good article, but for some reason he doesn't mention one the best XML UI systems: WPF.
Re: When XML Beats JSON: UI Layouts
#7No one should really be writing UI code by modifying a file by hand because UIs are often complex and deep, so the file structure used to store the UI data doesn't need to be human-readable. This is true for any data - once you hit a moderate level of complexity neither JSON or XML really work - you need to build a tool to manipulate the underlying data rather than changing it directly. If you do that then it doesn't…
This reminds me of the line of thought from the React community. Make everything as complex as possible (vdoms, etc.). But there are other ways, frameworks, styles to achieve what people want without that level of complexity. A "moderate" level of complexity absolutely does not require special tooling to manipulate underlying data.
Re: When XML Beats JSON: UI Layouts
#8No one should really be writing UI code by modifying a file by hand because UIs are often complex and deep, so the file structure used to store the UI data doesn't need to be human-readable. This is true for any data - once you hit a moderate level of complexity neither JSON or XML really work - you need to build a tool to manipulate the underlying data rather than changing it directly. If you do that then it doesn't…
Following what you say we should only have binary format. I think you underestimate the convenience of a text format. It does not only provide a simple way to generate it, but also provide a way to modify it by hand .
And have readable and understandable diffs!
One of the biggest issues with the most popular 'tool-only language' (Excel) is that there is no reasonable way to audit changes. Same goes for UIs that are backed by inscrutable file formats.
Re: When XML Beats JSON: UI Layouts
#9No one should really be writing UI code by modifying a file by hand because UIs are often complex and deep, so the file structure used to store the UI data doesn't need to be human-readable. This is true for any data - once you hit a moderate level of complexity neither JSON or XML really work - you need to build a tool to manipulate the underlying data rather than changing it directly. If you do that then it doesn't…
Following what you say we should only have binary format. I think you underestimate the convenience of a text format. It does not only provide a simple way to generate it, but also provide a way to modify it by hand .
Following what you say we should only have binary format.
Only if you ignore the bit where I said "once you hit a moderate level of complexity". Text file formats work really well for simple things.
Re: When XML Beats JSON: UI Layouts
#10The main reason that I use XML (occasionally) is because of XML Schema. It's a very precise data description that can be semantically verified.
Otherwise, I try to use JSON, where possible, because I am not a masochist.