Binary evil strikes back - W3C launches XML Binary Characterization WG

W3C announced the creation of the XML Binary Characterization Working Group.

Chartered for a year, the group will analyze and develop use cases and measurements for alternate encodings of XML. Its goal is to determine if serialized binary XML transmission and formats are feasible.

The WG has been created as a result of the Binary Interchange Workshop. Here is what their goals are:

The XML Binary Characterization Working Group is tasked with gathering information about uses cases where the overhead of generating, parsing, transmitting, storing, or accessing XML-based data may be deemed too great for a particular application, characterizing the properties that XML provides as well as those that are required by the use cases, and establishing objective, shared measurements to help judge whether XML 1.x and alternate (binary) encodings provide the required properties.

Too bad. I was hoping that won't happen and now I only hope they will decide that's bad idea and interoperability costs more than "overhead of parsing". Dare well argued Binary XML is evil here and I only subscribe to the views he quotes.