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Myth: XQuery will not scale to handle large datasets; XQuery will never be as fast as relational databases

In many ways, the XQuery standards industry looks at the Internet as one big distributed XML database. In this view, a query language appears in the role of a browsing capability where users find data in one or more retrieved documents. From the database view, XQuery is a tool for structural and content-based querying over the large dataset that is the world-wide XML database. The view is really that big.

Scalability and performance of XQuery solutions depend on the target of the XQuery implementation. For example, some XQuery implementations focus on content management and integration services. These are best used for publishing Web sites and Web portals to limited-sized audiences. XQuery implementations that focus on XML database functions are best used for handling large datasets efficiently.

An easy way to learn the focus of an XQuery implementation is to look at its origins. For example, looking at the XQuery working group shows two very distinct constituencies: those that come to XQuery from the XML document space and those working with XML as data. The document-oriented members come from an SGML past where agile access to a relatively small amount of XML data is important. The database-oriented members come from a hierarchical, relational, and XML database past and recognize the importance of indexing, extensions for text search, transactions and two-phase commit, external indexes, and an SDK/API for developers.