Best practices: XML attribute vs XML element - When should I use elements and when should I use attributes? [duplicate]

Answer 1

The first alternative scales a bit better. Suppose that you need to add another attribute of an animal section, such as the status of the section. I suggest that this representation:

  
    

      ...
    
  

does a better job of conveying the following facts:

1. name is a property of the category
2. a category could have multiple sections
3. status is a property of a section; not all sections in the category are required to have the same status.

In short, it makes the hierarchical structure clearer, and shows which attributes apply at each level of the hierarchy.