CodeSOD: Classic WTF: XML Abuse

Is it still trendy to hate on XML? Of course it is! But this WTF would still be a WTF if it were built in JSON, because this is terrible.

This classic comes from 2008, but finding WTFs in XML knows no decade. - Remy

"Where I work we keep a lot of data stored in XML files," Ben writes. "They're not your average XML files, though - they're special." His colleague invented the following technique (recommended for senior level XML programmers only).

<rootNode> <numberOfAddresses>110</numberOfAddresses> <address_1>442 Fake St.</address_1> <address_2>61 Main St.</address_2> ... <address_110>3881 N 4th Ave. #5D</address_110></rootNode>

Ben adds, "Of course this means that an XSD schema is absolutely impossible to define."

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