XML vs MySQL for a pretty static site in .NET....

[VinylxScratches]

So I'm starting a computer repair business. I was originally thinking about using MySQL as the backend but now I'm thinking maybe I should use XML for the data?

The issue I'm having right now is I am doing two languages. English and Polish. The data will be pretty static for the most part but I plan on adding a updates section that will probably use MySQL but I think XML will do just fine.

 

[drebo]

XML is not meant to be a data storage facility. It is a data representation facility.

Use MySQL. Your hair will turn grey at a much lower pace.

Optimally, you would use MySQL as your back end, which would output your site as XML and then you would use XSLT to display it to browsers. This would allow you to change the layout of your site simply by changing the XSL translation. So, if you wanted to adapt your site to mobile browsers, or your Polish/English translation, or anything else...it's just a matter of which translation you use.

 

[Rangoric]

If you can get MySQL working without much effort it may end up saving you effort in the long run. Also for simple data storage MySQL should be faster even without changes being made.

.Net has a ton of fun ways to play with XML but if you don't really need those tools, it's not worth it.

 

[JasonCoder]

.NET will give you very slick localization features for your English and Polish translations. For dynamic data like products, etc. you'll definitely want to stick that in a database. I suppose if you wanted you could stick that stuff in the localization resource files but only if it is very, very super static.