Back to Roots: Moving to XML
In a short update posted to the Back to Roots website, Fearyourself has announced that he is making some changes to the configuration files for the Ultima-inspired game engine:
I’ve started a long overhaul which is to move my configuration files to XML. The project becoming more and more stable, it’ll permit me to make a review on the configuration files.
So it might take me a while to get them all through but, in the end, it’s an important step!
So if it’s a while before we hear from this project again…that would be why.
Great idea. Not only will the logic of the program be more communicable, so will its configuration files. That will increase interoperability between various libraries spread between any dev environment supporting XML I/O (almost all).
You could port the source code and use the same config files and assets (or replacement assets) to run it on any OS out there, in theory.
Another reason for the use of XML is that it’s important to keep the code and logic of your project balanced and efficient, lest ye lose track of your code changes and plunge into chaos.
Shit, yet another reason is that proper XML files can have good documentation (in-line code comments), which could serve as a tutorial for incorporating or changing them.