Talk:XML data binding

Merge with Data Binding

I think Data binding deserves its own article. Many of the issues discussed here apply to JSON or YAML or your platform-agnostic data format here.

We also need to describe what differentiates Data Binding (XML or otherwise) from Serialization. In the sense I'm familiar with, data binding refers to a serialization that describes its own data format (a program can discover the data's structure as it is read in), and may not require a schema (perl's XML::Simple or python's Objectify). Data binding often then specifically means "serialization that describes its own structure and is intended for transport across platforms". XML to/from a predefined data structure, round-tripped only within the same program or suite of programs, I'd think of as simply Serialization.

--Mrflip (talk) 20:09, 4 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think XML data binding might merit some coverage, as it has specific problems. I've criticised in the published paper www.hpl.hp.com/techreports/2005/HPL-2005-83.pdf Rethinking the Java SOAP stack.

By offering to work backwards from your java to XML, you dont have a platform-neutral XSD or WSDL
By pretending that your classes get serialized and deserialized, users end up with unrealistic expectations, such as being able to send a Java Exception to a C++ program and have it understood.
By hiding from the XML, you lose the ability to navigate the graph (some XPath enabled technologies like XBeans and Xom allow this).

I am one of the people to think that going from Xml to Object is mostly OK. though it doesn't handle arbitrary nested XML very well, or optional presence/absence of data. But that going from Object to XML is pretty hazardous. Objects are a graph of native data; XML is tree structure of strings, nothing more. SteveLoughran (talk) 21:23, 25 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Question about Binding

I am searching Wikipedia for definitions of what is meant by "binding" but am coming up empty. XML data binding is as close as I have come. Can someone contribute some content about what binding means in respect to programming? UPDATE: I found a reference under "binding" but not when looking for "bind", which was my original search. Now I am having trouble locating information about what a "lexical context" is.

    Here is a link to the wikipedia page on binding. --John in Austin 14:57, 23 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The Hydrate link points to a chemistry article. Sergivs-en 23:08, 12 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]