20-something years of web/app.config is the primary reason why I hate XML. Very, very closely followed by Java ("a DSL for turning XML into stacktraces") and its over complicated ecosystem of xml configurations.
I have worked with Java for over two decades, and your experience does not match mine.
At $work there are only two XML files in each project:
- logback.xml: configuring logging which is usually only done once or twice and is the same for each project.
- pom.xml: Maven config which is mostly autogenerated by IntelliJ when creating a new project. I only add a few lines for new dependencies.
In rare cases I may use some plugins to do specific build operations, but the actual XML is simple. Most of the time is spent on understanding the plugin itself, and not "fighting" XML. Moving this to YAML has no effect on my productivity
All other configuration is either done using YAML, properties or configuration in code (Spring Boot).
I see Spring still has options to use XML configurations, but I don't see any reasons why anyone would do that in 2023. The "new" standard in Spring is configuration by code, which I have done for the last 8 years.
The ecosystem for Java today can not be compared to what it was 10 years ago. If editing XML configurations is still a problem at your workplace, find a new job :-) Either you work with a legacy system that nobody wants to update to the new standards, or you have architects who are stuck.
Moreover I even got comments on xml attributes and elements, warnings if required element is missing or required count is not met.
You even got visual hierarchical collapsable UI for viewing/editing that XSD schema.
I repeat: 18 years of autocomplete, comments on hover, and validation for typos/count/order for XML in Visual Studio.