What is Xml

xml stand for extensible markup language. XML means extensible markup language. It is a text based markup language which derived from the SGML (stand for standard generalized markup language).

XML tags are identify the data and store & organize the data, instead of this specifying how to show data, for example HTML tags are used to display the data on web browser.

XML introduces new possibilities by adopting many of the successful features of HTML.

• XML is a software- and hardware-independent tool that is picks and transports data.
• The xml was released in the late 90s. It was designed to be easy to use and to store self-describing data.
• XML become a W3C Recommendation on 10 Feb. 1998.
• XML is not a replacement for HTML.
• XML is designed to be self-descriptive.
• XML is designed for carry data, not for display data.
• XML is platform independent and language independent.
• XML tags are not predefined. You must define your own tags.

Note: Self-describing data is a data that represents both its content and structure.

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what is mark up language

The mark up language is a system for underlining a document or highlighting a document. Students often outline or highlight a passage for easy modification, highlighting or underlining is replaced by tags in the sense of modern mark up language.

XML is a markup language that defines the set of rules to encode documents in a format that is both machine readable and human readable. So what exactly is the markup language? Markup is information added to a document that extends its meaning in certain ways, including how it identifies parts and how they relate to each other.

More specifically, a markup language is a group of symbols that can be placed in the text of a document to delimit and label parts of that document.

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Why Study XML?

• XML performs an important role in several IT systems.
• XML is often used to distribute data over the Internet.
• Must have a nice understanding of XML for all types of developers.

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difference between xml and html

HTML	XML
HTML is used to display data and focus on how the data looks.	XML is a software and hardware independent tools which is used for transport and store data. It focuses on what data is.
HTML is a markup language by itself.	XML gives a framework for defining markup languages.
HTML is not case sensitive.	XML is case sensitive.
HTML is a presentation language.	XML is not a presentation language.
HTML has its own predefined tags.	we can define tags according to own need.
In HTML, it is not necessary to use closing tags.	It makes it mandatory to use XML closing tags.
HTML is static because xml is used for display data.	XML is dynamic because xml is used for transport data.
HTML does not preserve whitespace.	XML preserves whitespace.
HTML was designed to display data	XML was designed to carry data
HTML tags are predefined	XML tags are not predefined

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features of xml

XML has three important features that make it useful in various systems and solutions -

• XML is extensible − XML allows you to create and develop our own descriptive tags, or language, that suit our application.
• XML carries the data, does not present it − XML allows to store data, regardless of how it is shown.
• XML is a public standard − XML was developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and is available as an open standard (open source).

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Usage of XML

Platform independent and language independent : The most advantage of XML is that we can use it to take data from programs such as Microsoft SQL, convert it to XML, and then share that XML with another programs and platforms. Huh. You can communicate between two platforms which are usually very difficult.

The main thing that makes XML truly powerful is its international acceptance. Many corporations use XML interfaces for databases, programming, office applications, mobile phones, and more. This is due to its platform independent feature.

A short list of XML usage

• XML can work behind the scenes to make the creation of HTML documents easier for large web sites.
• XML can be used for exchange information between organizations and systems.
• XML can be used for offload and reload the database.
• XML can be used to store and organize data, which can adapt to your data handling needs.
• XML can be easily merged with a style sheet to create almost any desired output.
• literally any type of data can be expressed as an XML document.

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Is XML a Programming Language?

A programming language has its own grammar rules and vocabulary which is used to create computer programs. These programs gives instruction for computer to perform specific tasks. XML is not eligible to be a programming language because it does not perform any calculations or algorithms. It is usually picked in a simple text file and processed by specialized software capable of interpreting XML.

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Advantages of XML

• It supports Unicode, allowing to transmit almost any information in any written human language.
• It can presents genaral computer science data structares: lists, records, and trees.
• Its self-documenting format describes the structure and field names as well as specific values.
• Strict syntax and parsing requirements make the required parsing algorithm extremely simple, efficient and consistent.
• XML is used as format for document storage and processing both online & offline.
• It is based on international standards.
• It can be updated sequentially.
• This allows validation using schema languages such as XSD and Schematic, which makes effective unit-testing, firewalls, acceptance testing, contractual specification and software creation easier.
• The hierarchical structure is applicable for most (but not all) types of documents.
• It is platform-independent, as relatively immune to changes in technology.
• It is relatively easy to maintain forward and backward compatibility despite changes in DTD (document type definition) or schema.

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