I am planning to write a Web Service in Java which connects to a MySQL Database and computes and exposes different information from it.
Then an Android app will connect to this Web Service and process the information.
Initially I thought of using XML files, but I was advised that it is not the best-practice correct way, and the Service part will not be light weight. That I should use JSON.
What is the correct architecture and solution for my problem ?
Also is it possible to run a Java Web Service without Tomcat, directly by the JVM from a jar?
Any documentation or links would be helpful.