XML

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the evolution of Extensible Markup Language (XML) which has become a major server side resource for web site presentations. It examines how the standard HTML had become a rigid and standardized mark-up language for browsers and how XML was designed from its inception to be flexible enough to describe any kind of mark up schema that the industry could devise. It looks at how the most basic use for XML is to describe the data structure of the provided data, however its ability for data transformations has made it into the database world for transferring data from one table schema to another one. Today it has become the de facto format for modern configuration files, and every major vendor has XML in their product offering in one form or another. XML hasn't replaced HTML; instead it has found a companion role in providing the data that is presented in HTML.

From the Paper:

"When XML was first designed, many people thought that XML would be quickly adopted as a replacement for HTML. At first, XML was used to describe scientific terms and domains such as chemistry and music. This
never really caught on beyond the small groups who championed their
mark-ups. Instead, XML has become more of a server side tool than a presentation tool. However, HTML 4 has been extended into XHTML. Even though this is a new standard, compatibility with existing HTML user agents is possible by following a small set of guidelines. This means that the original vision might yet be realized as more tools are developed that produce content in this format."

More papers on XML:

• Essay # 73197 : "XML In Business"
• Comparison Essay # 136018 : "MARC vs. XML"
• Essay # 73209 : "HTML vs XML"
• Essay # 90301 : "XML v. HTML Technology"

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