XML is simply a way of structuring data in a way which makes it easy for different applications and systems to share that data. There are many different flavours of XML: RSS feeds, OPML, SOAP - the list is virtually endless.
At Listingslab Productions, we were first exposed to the delights of XML when Macromedia (now Adobe) released Flash version 5 in 2001. This version of flash included support for XML. We have been creating, and working with the XML data format ever since.
Advantages of using XML
(taken from Wikipedia)
- XML provides a basic syntax that can be used to share information between different kinds of computers, different applications, and different organizations. XML data is stored in plain text format. This software- and hardware-independent way of storing data allows different incompatible systems to share data without needing to pass them through many layers of conversion. This also makes it easier to expand or upgrade to new operating systems, new applications, or new browsers, without losing any data.
- With XML, your data can be available to all kinds of "reading machines" (Handheld computers, voice machines, news feeds, etc), and make it more available for blind people, or people with other disabilities.
- XML provides a gateway for communication between applications, even applications on wildly different systems. As long as applications can share data (through HTTP, file sharing, or another mechanism), and have an XML parser, they can share structured information that is easily processed. Databases can trade tables, business applications can trade updates, and document systems can share information.
- It supports Unicode, allowing almost any information in any written human language to be communicated.
- It can represent common computer science data structures: records, lists and trees.
- Its self-documenting format describes structure and field names as well as specific values.
- The strict syntax and parsing requirements make the necessary parsing algorithms extremely simple, efficient, and consistent.
- Content-based XML markup enhances searchability, making it possible for agents and search engines to categorize data instead of wasting processing power on context-based full-text searches.
- XML is heavily used as a format for document storage and processing, both online and offline.
- It is based on international standards.
- It can be updated incrementally.
- It allows validation using schema languages such as XSD and Schematron, which makes effective unit-testing, firewalls, acceptance testing, contractual specification and software construction easier.
- The hierarchical structure is suitable for most (but not all) types of documents.
- It is platform-independent, thus relatively immune to changes in technology.
- Forward and backward compatibility are relatively easy to maintain despite changes in DTD or Schema.
- Its predecessor, SGML, has been in use since 1986, so there is extensive experience and software available.
