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XML = EXtensible Markup Language |
 XML stands for EXtensible Markup Language. Extensible means that you are able to expand upon the language without adhering to any pre-defined markup tags.
HTML has pre-defined markup tags that can be dependent upon the whim of browser programmers. This, in turn, causes compatibilty problems.
XML tags are not predefined in XML. XML allows you to create and use your own tags to define the structure or data within a document.
The function of a markup language is to design ways to describe information and identify structure for storage, transmission or processing by a program.
The primary goal of markup in XML is designed to be semantic so that the focus is upon the separation of the document's logic, structure, data and other content from the formatting or display of a document.
Semantic markup can be equated to the elements, <acronym> and <abbr> in HTML 4.01. For example, if you are creating a document to contain names and phone numbers of employees in various departments, then some of the elements you might make up to use are: <name></name>, <extension></extension> and <department></department>.
XML is both a markup language as described above and a metalanguage. A metalanguage serves to create a formal description of another XML based language.
XML based languages have been developed to satisfy a specific industry's needs, either in house or across the board, so that information may be easily shared, transmitted, or stored.
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How does XML display in a browser? |
XML will display in any browser that supports the .xml extension such as Internet Explorer 5+.
The actual formatted presentation of the page in a browser, at this time, depends upon CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and XSLT (EXstensible Style Language Transform) support. CSS provides the formatting and XSLT will transform the XML document into XHTML.
At the present time, other languages that are part of the XML specification are not yet well supported, if at all, by any browser. These include XLink, comparable, but more powerful to HTML's <a> element, XPointer, which allows the linking to a specific part of a document such as <a name="targetname"> in HTML and XPath for locating specific parts of a document.
All Web builders need to know enough about XML to decide whether or not they should use it. E-commerce sites and sites that manage large numbers of documents stored in databases are obvious initial candidates. Managers who might not need to learn XML syntax or how to create a DTD will still want to understand XML's potential in order to make use of it.
HTML is still adequate for marking up documents if the ultimate goal is simply formatting for the web. But to prepare for automatic processing of data, think about incorporating XML into your publishing systems. XHTML 1.0 should now be utilized instead of HTML 4.01 and CSS utilized for formatting purposes. |
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