SweetXML is an alternate syntax for XML, designed to make configuration files more concise and readable by adding a bit of syntactic sugar.
For example, this XML:
<plugins> <plugin> <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId> <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId> <configuration> <source>1.5</source> <target>1.5</target> </configuration> </plugin> </plugins>
...is equivalent to this SweetXML:
plugins plugin groupId: org.apache.maven.plugins artifactId: maven-compiler-plugin configuration source: 1.5 target: 1.5
SweetXML's logical structure is identical to XML — only the syntax is different — so it works as a drop-in replacement for just about any XML configuration file. You can use it with your existing tools, even if they don't natively support it.
If your curiousity's piqued, check out the user guide or the FAQ.
It's open source (under a BSD-style license). Download it and try it out.
Questions or suggestions? Feel free to share them.