Description
XML is type of scripting language which stands for
Extensible Markup Language derived from Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML).
XML defines set of rules developed by W3C, an open standard, for encoding data in documents in a structured manner. Since the rules are standard, the XML documents can be automatically generated and processed.
In XML, the user can define own tags to store the data and is also extensible which means once the XML document is created, the document can be extended to store more data. Markup implies the tags which are used in XML. Description
From the name of XML itself, the following terms can be easily understood.
XML Tags => The tags in XML gives clear description about what the data is.
Extensible => Indicates that the document can be extended by defining relevant tags/capabilities for the applications.
Markup => Markup is Symbols or notations(<, > ^, /, ?,..) used to correct in making up text and indicate how text should be displayed. Description
XML is used in web development and has the following features.
- XML separates data from HTML.
- Data Sharing becomes easier with XML.
- Upgradation to new operating systems is quite simple with XML.
- Many languages like XHTML, WSDL, WAP and WML can be derived from XML.
- Availability of data with XML is easy.
- XML for storing the data in a structured format.
- XML documents helps as mini storage for browsers for storing the data.
- Used for storing configuration files in XML formats.
- XML can be mixed up with various CSS style sheets to get the required output.
- Transmission of data between Server-Server, WorkStation-Server and vice-versa becomes easier with XML as shown in below figure.
Key Points
- XML is derived form SGML.
- Extensible indicates usage of user-defined tags.
- Markup is Symbols or notations( ^, /, ?,..) used to correct in making up text.