Both JSON and XML have strengths for specific problem domains. They both have one extraordinary weakness: there’s always a large population of people religiously opposed to each format. XML people tend to hate JSON. JSON people tend to hate XML. Understanding the religious nature of this debate must play a critical role in your decision as to how you represent your objects. Your personal preference should generally play absolutely no role.
Pick the right tool for the job. Browser clients will generally be fit from JSON since that is their native format, but there’s no reason the same endpoints couldn’t return XML to a mobile app or another server based on a format header.
