XMLoriented

XMLoriented is a software design philosophy and software tooling approach in which XML is treated as the primary representation for data, configuration, and messaging. It emphasizes using XML as the lingua franca for data interchange and persistence, leveraging widely adopted standards such as XML Schema, XSLT, XPath, and XQuery.

Core principles include modeling domain data as structured XML documents, validating these documents against schemas, transforming and routing XML through pipelines, and querying XML with standard engines. The approach favors descriptive data formats over bespoke binary structures and promotes interoperability through self-describing content.

An XMLoriented architecture typically comprises components such as an XML parser and serializer, a validator, a transformer, and a query engine, often connected via an XML-based messaging layer. Systems may employ streaming or in-memory processing to handle large XML documents.

Tooling and ecosystem: numerous programming languages provide robust XML libraries, enabling parsing, validation, transformation, and querying. The approach often integrates with enterprise service Bus patterns, configuration management, and document-centric workflows.

Use cases include data integration across heterogeneous systems, document-centric applications, configuration and metadata management, and publishing pipelines where XML serves as a common interchange and archival format.

Criticism and status: XMLoriented approaches can incur verbosity and processing overhead compared with more compact data formats. Critics argue that engineering complexity arises from XML schemas and transformations. Proponents contend that standardization and interoperability justify the cost in enterprise environments.