I'm not sure what you mean by "a problem with XML." The problem is manifold, and starts with the XSD data typing system and the way the PSVI subordinates data typing to the original text. It compounds as SOAP/WSDL builds on top of PSVI to wire in assumptions of text interpretations in code. The true fault is with the developer who coded the tool with a careless fencepost that actually circumvented the datatyping system altogether, but that's the entire point of this "Lessons learned" thread: when you make things so complex that few developers can understand and get them right (and I do mean few; I have experience to back that up) then you can hardly always look to shift blame on the developer when they get it wrong.

 

http://adtmag.com/articles/2003/01/31/the-worry-about-program-wizards.aspx

And overall, since I'm wearying of this week's revival of perma-threads from 2000-2003, I'll finish with my own version of serenity, which is the opposite of Timothy Cook's