[barefootliam]

There isn't an alternative, largely i think because XML people come at the problem from the idea that documents are primary, not just artifacts of programs.

[zmix]

Very good comment. I wholeheartedly agree.

Also, there is a whole world outside of software development: The world, that uses this software. And that world produces documents, that need to be managed. And those, who manage them, are users, not programmers.

[namedgraph]

Data-driven architecture is the future. Data has to be driving the software, not the way around.