The point is that XML, like any format, is not perfect. If you get the chance to transition to using JSON or another well-used less flawed format in the future,

The point is that XML, like any format, is not perfect. If you get the chance to transition to using JSON or another well-used less flawed format in the future, why not? Some clarifications: * XML's End tags/elements are visual noise and cause additional unnecessary data to need to be stored. * Greater thans, less thans, and slashes are more visual noise and less intuitive and readable than the brackets, commas, and colons in JSON. * The fact that you can have values as attributes or as element values has caused confusion since the beginning. Attributes allow 1:1, but schemas can describe 1:1 as element values even though the same element could otherwise appear multiple times and be 1:*. Why should you be wasting time having to decide which to use when you are trying to define a format? Few bust on XML because they think that would be lunacy, since it is so prevalent. If everyone uses it, it must be better right?