Comment by Skeime

I think that's basically the same reason, right? XML itself is bloated if you use it as a format for data that is not marked-up text, so it comes with bloated APIs (which where pushed by Java/.NET proponents). I believe that if XML been kept to its intended purpose, it would be considered a relatively sane solution.

(But I don't have a source; I was just stating my impression/opinion.)