What Does XML stand
For?
XML definition : Extensible Markup Language – a set of technological communication standards that make it possible for computer programs to talk with one another without extensive programming.
It was developed by W3C – World Wide Consortium.
What is the
difference between XML and HTML?
HTML is responsible for controlling the look and feel of the content on a website.
XML is designed to describe the content on the page – the date and information
Take a look at the coding for a brief model of a XML document:
<?xml version=”2.0”?>
<letter>
<to>William</to>
<from>Jake</from>
<body>Everyone loves to dance around in a circle</body>
</letter>
· Notice how none of the coding tells about how the information is displayed. The content is the focus. In HTML their would be code that deals with font color and text size. XML does not comprise with these types of descriptions.
What is XML used for?
XML can be used to define a database of consumer information. For example <age>, <income>, etc. And it is “extensible” which allows the display of the information to be determined by the user. This also allows web designers to change information in a database, and see the format changed on the internet or intranet.
Companies can use XML to store inter-corporate information such as payroll, quarterly financial reports, client accounts, etc. As soon as this information is changed or altered it can be seen by all within the company intranet. HTML makes it very difficult to change or alter database information of because the tags are limited and pre-determined. With XML, tags allow information to be displayed selectively and information can be altered into new formats.
photo courtesy of spycomponents.com
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