What XML Is and What it is not…
What XML is?
- Very easy to use and code. The complete specification document is less than 40 pages long. XML is designed to be easier to code than either HTML or full SGML.
- It is an open standard - XML is a subset of SGML
- a learning curve - XML was designed by people with many years of experience, including members of the governing bodies for both SGML and HTML.
- By its very name - extensible - you have the power to invent and use your own tags and, if you choose, share them with others.
- Very efficient - XML can re-use document elements and fragments, so you only have to transmit them once.
- Ready to use - web browsers can read XML today, just like HTML. You can use hyperlinks and images and multimedia, exactly as you do in HTML.
- Fully international - it has built-in support for texts in the major global alphabets, including a method to signal what language and encoding is being used.
What XML is not?
- It is not a replacement for good old HTML. HTML is an excellent tool for displaying documents across a network. XML is designed for information providers who want to expand the horizons - something HTML is not geared up for.
- It is not a replacement for SGML. To make XML simple, many features of SGML
- It is not constrained to a defined set of tags
- It is not clunky - you can use it secure in the knowledge that it is as efficient as possible.