NYCPHP Meetup

[David Krings]

Matt Williams wrote:
>     So if the above is valid XML, is there a specific name for this approach? Is there a benefit for doing it this way instead of nested nodes? Might this be considered older method?
> 
> 
> No, it's not an older method. There is no absolute definition of when to 
> use elements versus attributes. There are, however, some attempts at 
> defining general principles:
> 
> http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/library/x-eleatt.html


The thing is that attributes have less overhead. So if you have many different 
elements that have a few properties using attributes shaves off a few 
characters. Then again, XML has a gigantic amount of overhead anyway, so why 
bother. One could also say that anything mandatory is to be an attribute while 
everything else is a sub-element. Haven't looked at the IBM page yet, so maybe 
my ideas are not on the money. In general, XML is made for machines to read, 
it is not fit for human consumption.

David