> You changed the model when you adapted the xml to lisp. That was a conscious decision, because the verbosity of XML prevents clear understanding of a data mo

> You changed the model when you adapted the xml to lisp. That was a conscious decision, because the verbosity of XML prevents clear understanding of a data model, while the cleanness of S-expressions enables a clarity of vision which enables prudent judgement when laying out a data structure. > You also removed some comments. Yes, because they were akin to: // Add 1 & 2, assign to X x = 1 + 2 If you really want an S-expression version of the XML in that example, here is SXML[0]: (*top* (fof (*comment* " Common settings ") (common (*comment* " Container configuration ") (container (option (@ (name "componentNamespace")) "MyCompany\\MyApplication")) (*comment* " Dispatcher configuration ") (dispatcher (option (@ (name "defaultView")) "items")) (*comment* " Transparent authentication configuration ") (authentication (option (@ (name "totpKey")) "ABCD123456") (option (@ (name "authenticationMethods")) "HTTPBasicAuth_TOTP,QueryString_TOTP")) (*comment* " Model configuration. One tag for each Model. ") (model (@ (name "orders")) (*comment* " Model configuration ") (config (option (@ (name "tbl")) "#__fakeapp_orders")) (*comment* " Field aliasing. One tag per aliased field ") (field (@ (name "enabled")) "published") (*comment* " Relation setup. One tag per relation ") (relation (@ (type "hasMany") (name "items"))) (relation (@ (type "belongsToMany") (name "transactions") (localKey "foobar_order_id") (foreignKey "foobar_transaction_id") (pivotLocalKey "foobar_order_id") (pivotForeignKey "foobar_transaction_id") (pivotTable "#__foobar_orders_transactions"))) (relation (@ (type "belongsTo") (name "client") (foreignModelClass "Users@com_fakeapp"))) (*comment* " Behaviour setup. Use merge=\"1\" to merge with already defined behaviours. ") (behaviors (@ (merge "1")) "foo,bar,baz")) (*comment* " Controller, View and Toolbar setup. One tag per view. ") (view (@ (name "item")) (*comment* " Controller task aliasing ") (taskmap (task (@ (name "list")) "browse")) (*comment* " Controller ACL mapping ") (acl (task (@ (name "dosomething"))) (task (@ (name "somethingelse")) "core.manage")) (*comment* " Controller and View options ") (config (option (@ (name "autoRouting")) "3")) (*comment* " Toolbar configuration ") (toolbar (@ (title "COM_FOOBAR_TOOLBAR_ITEM") (task "edit")) (button (@ (type "save"))) (button (@ (type "saveclose"))) (button (@ (type "savenew"))) (button (@ (type "cancel")))))) (*comment* " Component backend options ") (backend (*comment* " The same options as Common Settings apply here, too ")) (*comment* " Component frontend options ") (frontend (*comment* " The same options as Common Settings apply here, too ")))) Which I think is still indubitably and inarguably clearer & cleaner than the XML version. Technically, the XML spec requires whitespace preservation, so really it’s this: (*top* (fof " " (*comment* " Common settings ") " " (common " " (*comment* " Container configuration ") " " (container " " (option (@ (name "componentNamespace")) "MyCompany\\MyApplication") " ") " " (*comment* " Dispatcher configuration ") " " (dispatcher " " (option (@ (name "defaultView")) "items") " ") " " (*comment* " Transparent authentication configuration ") " " (authentication " " (option (@ (name "totpKey")) "ABCD123456") " " (option (@ (name "authenticationMethods")) "HTTPBasicAuth_TOTP,QueryString_TOTP") " ") " " (*comment* " Model configuration. One tag for each Model. ") " " (model (@ (name "orders")) " " (*comment* " Model configuration ") " " (config " " (option (@ (name "tbl")) "#__fakeapp_orders") " ") " " (*comment* " Field aliasing. One tag per aliased field ") " " (field (@ (name "enabled")) "published") " " (*comment* " Relation setup. One tag per relation ") " " (relation (@ (type "hasMany") (name "items"))) " " (relation (@ (type "belongsToMany") (name "transactions") (localKey "foobar_order_id") (foreignKey "foobar_transaction_id") (pivotLocalKey "foobar_order_id") (pivotForeignKey "foobar_transaction_id") (pivotTable "#__foobar_orders_transactions"))) " " (relation (@ (type "belongsTo") (name "client") (foreignModelClass "Users@com_fakeapp"))) " " (*comment* " Behaviour setup. Use merge=\"1\" to merge with already defined behaviours. ") " " (behaviors (@ (merge "1")) "foo,bar,baz") " ") " " (*comment* " Controller, View and Toolbar setup. One tag per view. ") " " (view (@ (name "item")) " " (*comment* " Controller task aliasing ") " " (taskmap " " (task (@ (name "list")) "browse") " ") " " (*comment* " Controller ACL mapping ") " " (acl " " (task (@ (name "dosomething"))) " " (task (@ (name "somethingelse")) "core.manage") " ") " " (*comment* " Controller and View options ") " " (config " " (option (@ (name "autoRouting")) "3") " ") " " (*comment* " Toolbar configuration ") " " (toolbar (@ (title "COM_FOOBAR_TOOLBAR_ITEM") (task "edit")) " " (button (@ (type "save"))) " " (button (@ (type "saveclose"))) " " (button (@ (type "savenew"))) " " (button (@ (type "cancel"))) " ") " ") " ") " " (*comment* " Component backend options ") " " (backend " " (*comment* " The same options as Common Settings apply here, too ") " ") " " (*comment* " Component frontend options ") " " (frontend " " (*comment* " The same options as Common Settings apply here, too ") " ") " ")) But I think that rather proves my point: XML obscures that which should be obvious. (and apologies for these terribly vertical posts — I think that they go a long way towards demonstrating the need for a compact information representation). 0: http://okmij.org/ftp/Scheme/xml.html#SXML-spec http://okmij.org/ftp/Scheme/xml.html#SXML-spec