XML stands for EXtensible Markup Language. Its became a W3C Recommendation 10. February 1998.
XML is designed to describe data and to focus on what data is.
In our XML tutorial you will learn about XML and the difference between XML and HTML. You will also learn how to start using XML in your applications.
XML stands for EXtensible Markup Language
XML is a markup language much like HTML
XML was designed to describe data
XML tags are not predefined. You must define your own tags
XML uses a Document Type Definition (DTD) or an XML Schema to describe the data
XML with a DTD or XML Schema is designed to be self-descriptive
XML is a W3C Recommendation
The Main Difference Between XML and HTML
XML was designed to carry data. XML is not a replacement for HTML. XML and HTML were designed with different goals:
XML was designed to describe data and to focus on what data is.
HTML was designed to display data and to focus on how data looks.
HTML is about displaying information, while XML is about describing information.
XML is Free and Extensible XML tags are not predefined. You must "invent" your own tags.The tags used to mark up HTML documents and the structure of HTML documents are predefined. The author of HTML documents can only use tags that are defined in the HTML standard
XML allows the author to define his own tags and his own document structure.
The tags in the example above are not defined in any XML standard. These tags are "invented" by the author of the XML document.
XML in Future Web Development
XML is going to be everywhere. We have been participating in XML development since its creation. It has been amazing to see how quickly the XML standard has been developed and how quickly a large number of software vendors have adopted the standard.
We strongly believe that XML will be as important to the future of the Web as HTML has been to the foundation of the Web and that XML will be the most common tool for all data manipulation and data transmission.
