Alternatives to browsers (was Re: Alternatives to the W3C)

[Hunter, David]

From: Miles Sabin [mailto:msabin at cromwellmedia.co.uk]
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2000 10:57 AM
> 
> I'm having trouble seeing why XML over HTTP is preferable to
> eg. CORBA or Java RMI (maybe tunneled through HTTP if there's
> a need to traverse firewalls) for application specific comms.
> How is application specific markup better than an application
> specific binary wire protocol?

The two thoughts off the top of my head:

1)  It's easier to debug.  If things are going wrong, it's pretty cool to be
able to just pull the data up in Notepad, and see if there's anything screwy
going on.  Admittedly not a powerful reason at all.  :-)

2)  The ability to swap in and out different clients, and leave the server
alone.  If I want to use a Visual Basic client on my company's Windows
boxen, and C++ clients on my Mac boxen, and maybe Java on my UNIX boxen,
they can all still just communicate with the server via my XML document
type.  I don't have to make everyone use Java, or lock myself into a
specific CORBA vendor, or use DCOM and make ALL my clients Windows boxen,
etc.

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