Re: XML + PHP

"Tamara Abbey" <tamara(at)abbeyink.com> wrote:


> Now, eventually, XML /will/ be my database? I won't need to store stuff in
> a db and then query it since the XML DTD will pre-define the markup so if
I
> want to find all the headlines, I'll just query the XML for tags that have
> headline?

This kind of statement has always bothered me. A lot of people seem to be
thinking of XML as a database. How can this be?

If an XML file is a database, it's a very poor one.

I don't understand how a flat text file, no matter how clever the mark up,
can ever be as efficient, scaleable, flexible, or robust as a proper
database engine. For example, how do you put an XML file into 3NF? How do
you control record-level locking? Optimistic locking? Enforce referential
integrity? And a million other questions.

Can somebody enlighten me?

--
David Meadows [ Technical Writer | Information Developer ]
DNRC Minister for Littorasy * david(at)heroes.force9.co.uk
Assorted essays: www.themestream.com/authors/87004.html

"We weren't lost at all, were we? Not where it counted. Inside."
     -- Garth Ranzz

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