[Osiris-devel]host daemon using XML ?

[Spike Ilacqua]

> There are going to be serveral different types of communication between
> the client and server.  These comms need to be secure and extensible as we
> continue forward.  Designing a protocol to handle our requirements for the
> comm channel may be quite a bit of work.  If we use XML, we can describe
> the protocols as we need them using stands-based methods and tools.  We
> can also utilize existing transport mechanisms (such as XML in TLS or
> RPC-XML).

In my opinion, this is the party line for XML and I don't buy into it.
Yes, using XML will allow you to prototype the protocol quickly, but
the trade off is overhead parsing the XML in each transaction.  My
preference is to take the extra time to design an efficient protocol
up front.  It's more work, but you save infinite cycles over the life
of the software.

I also feel that XML gives a false sense of extendibility.  Yes, you
can just update your DTD to add new fields, but in the end you still
have to re-code all of your clients and servers to handle that new
data.

> Also it would seem being XML based would make it easier to bring new
> developers into the project.  Proprietary protocols can be difficult
> for a new developer to wrap his/her arms around.

True, but good documentation could help with this.  And the real
question is would additional developers really be spending a lot of
time with the protocol?  Once the protocol has been established, XML
or otherwise, I assume an interface (library, SDK, whatever) will be
created for client/server communication.  I would imagine most
developers would be working with this interface, not directly with the
underlying protocol.

In short I feel that using XML here would add great deal of overhead
in return for little more that buzzword compliance.  But that's just
my two-cents worth.

->Spike