In this episode, Neil Strange and Alex Higgs dive into the real-world pain of working with XML. From legacy systems and unreadable schemas to bloated file sizes and broken audit trails, Alex shares the kind of problems that don’t show up in the docs—but definitely show up in your project timelines.

✅ What you'll learn:

Why XML still shows up in modern data pipelines

The key differences between XML and JSON

How XSD helps (and hurts) when validating XML

Common XML mistakes that break audits and slow down delivery

When to fight for JSON instead

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 – Intro

00:14 – Why XML is a “necessary evil”

01:00 – XML vs JSON: key differences

01:18 – When you're forced to use XML

02:08 – Why JSON is usually easier to work with

02:22 – What is XSD and why does it matter?

03:10 – Hidden pitfalls: empty tags and missing elements

04:05 – Why XML breaks in production

05:00 – Real-world XML horror stories

06:01 – Data quality and governance issues

06:44 – Missing keys and broken audit trails

07:12 – Should you always choose JSON?

07:30 – Final thoughts + join the debate

📢 Got strong feelings about XML or JSON? Let us know in the comments.

🔗 Links & Resources:

👉 Free modelling guides and resources: https://bit.ly/4f9AYs9

👉 Learn more about Data Vault modelling: https://bit.ly/4eNkczq

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