The nice thing about the Java base here was that instead of trying to solve problems with a mess of configuration, we could just write our own code plugging directly into / replacing parts of Keycloak. Definitely don't disagree with you about the pain of XML, but that wasn't an issue for us here at all
Yeah, I fully believe that there are advantages for your team, and even that Keycloak is much better than the Java apps I have had to operate. I'm just traumatized. :)