They all say - nothing

XML is the eXtensible Markup Language, and obviously is the current kittchen sink of communication. Its purpose is to mark up text, to say 'this part is such-and-such, and that part is a order number'. But if you came here you knew that anyway.

Now, there is a strange tendency. XML is used everywhere, and most files containing XML have a peculiar property: Remove the <tags>, and they contain - nothing. There isn't anything but white space that is 'marked up'. Instead the tags and their attributes represent all the relevant data. And I wonder why they still don't do away with the <> and use a notation that is actually up to the task. After all, the XML syntax is just so it can be embedded in marked-up text. It's like using a hammer to drive in a screw, just for the lack of a standardized screwdriver.