XOM API for Processing XML with Java

[Wolfgang Hoschek <whoschek AT lbl.gov>]

> > hi everyone.
> > just would like to ask if the binary serialization of
> > NUX can be deserialize by an application other than
> > NUX?
>
> No, which is a strong argument against using any such binary 
> serialization formats. Basically, you're throwing interoperability out 
> the window. Data you want anybody besides yourself (or. for that 
> matter, yourself three years down the road) to be able to use is much 
> better served and stored in plain vanilla XML.

I think the javadoc is rather clear in that the bnux binary xml codec 
is neither intended for long term storage, nor for long term interop. 
That's mainly because it is not a "standard" binary format. Standard 
textual XML is much better here. So there are advantages and 
disadvantages here, and it's not considered the right approach for all 
scenarios.

Specifically the javadoc states:

 The algorithm is primarily  intended for tightly coupled 
high-performance systems exchanging large  volumes of XML data over 
networks, as well as for compact main memory caches  and for short-term 
 storage as BLOBs in backend databases or files (e.g. "session" data 
with limited duration).

 While the Java API is considered stable, the bnux data format should 
be  considered a black box: Its internals are under-documented and may 
change  without notice from release to release in 
backwards-incompatible manners. It  is unlikely that support for 
reading data written with older Nux versions  will ever be available. 
bnux is an exchange format but not an  interoperability format.

This approach is expressly not intended as a replacement for standard  
textual XML in loosely coupled systems where maximum long-term 
interoperability is the overarching concern. It is also expressly not  
intended for long-term data storage. If you store data in bnux format  
there's every chance you won't be able to read it back a year or two 
from  now, or even earlier. Finally, it is probably unwise to use this 
class if  your application's performance requirements are not 
particularly stringent,  or profiling indicates that the bottleneck is 
not related to XML serialization/deserialization anyway.