Introduction to XML for Web Developers is a four-part course designed by Selena Sol.
Like HTML, XML (also known as Extensible Markup Language) is a markup language which relies on the concept of rule-specifying tags and the use of a tag-processing application that knows how to deal with the tags.
However, XML is far more powerful than HTML.
This is because of the "X". XML is "eXtensible". Specifically, rather than providing a set of pre-defined tags, as in the case of HTML, XML specifies the standards with which you can define your own markup languages with their own sets of tags. XML is a meta-markup language which allows you to define an infinite number of markup languages based upon the standards defined by XML.
Like HTML, XML (also known as Extensible Markup Language) is a markup language which relies on the concept of rule-specifying tags and the use of a tag-processing application that knows how to deal with the tags.
However, XML is far more powerful than HTML.
This is because of the "X". XML is "eXtensible". Specifically, rather than providing a set of pre-defined tags, as in the case of HTML, XML specifies the standards with which you can define your own markup languages with their own sets of tags. XML is a meta-markup language which allows you to define an infinite number of markup languages based upon the standards defined by XML.
The design goals for XML are:
- XML shall be straightforwardly usable over the Internet.
- XML shall support a wide variety of applications.
- XML shall be compatible with SGML.
- It shall be easy to write programs which process XML documents.
- The number of optional features in XML is to be kept to the absolute minimum, ideally zero.
- XML documents should be human-legible and reasonably clear.
- The XML design should be prepared quickly.
- The design of XML shall be formal and concise.
- XML documents shall be easy to create.
- Terseness in XML markup is of minimal importance.
