XML and Information Systems

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the numerous uses for XML type formatting as it pertains to the storing or filing of data in an information system. The writer contends and explains that XML is considered a standard method for storing information and is deemed the ideal choice for use in a system that requires some form of communication via an arbitrary or unknown program. This paper discusses the manner in which computer programmers as well as Unix developers make use of XML while also comparing its effectiveness and functionality to Unix text formats, which are preferred by various experts in the field. This paper also explores how XML is used in various forms of online communication such as instant messaging.

From the Paper:

"One of the easiest ways for a programmer to save data to a file or stream it across a network is to simply dump the data structures, unaltered from memory. Such data dumps are easy for the program that created them to read, and quite difficult for anything else. This has traditionally been a popular technique among Windows developers; Unix developers have traditionally preferred text-based file formats. (Raymond 2003) Traditional Unix text formats, while easy to parse, even without knowing the internal details of the program that created them are not formally standardized. Generally, a program must by specifically designed to read and write another program's file or stream format. XML provides a generic tool for doing so, often supported by an external library. The XML syntax should look familiar to any Lisp programmer; Lisp property lists have exactly the same structure as XML documents, and have served the same purpose since long before XML was intented."

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