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How XML Transformed the Internet

by acbuddy

When the internet was first introduced, all websites were written
in HTML. HTML was the only programming language used to describe
and display data on the World Wide Web. It was simple and fairly
easy to learn. As time progressed, programmers started to realize
that they were being stymied by HTML. Web designers wanted to be
able to describe data more effectively. This need for a better
way to deal with data resulted in the development of a new
specification called XML.

What is XML? XML stands for Extensible Markup Language. So, just
like HTML, XML is a markup language. A markup language is any
language that is used to describe or define information and text.
XML is not a substitute for HTML. It is to be used in conjunction
with HTML.

HTML focuses on describing how data or text is supposed to be
displayed. The XML language does something totally different. XML
describes what the data is. So, XML is not something that is
apparent on a web page, because it does not actually do anything.
As information and data presented on the World Wide Web became
more complex, XML was invented to effectively structure, store,
and send this information.

What makes XML truly unique is that there are no predefined tags
like we have with HTML. All of the tags used in HTML have already
been defined, such as the paragraph tag, the header tag, and all
the various style tags. XML is not defined. You can make your own
tags!

So, the question is, why do we need XML? Why do we need a more
versatile specification like XML to describe data? After all,
HTML works fine if used properly, so why do we need XML? Well,
the answer is simple. XML is a device independent, cross-platform
language.

This is extremely important, because people are now using a wide
variety of gadgets to connect to the internet, as almost every
electronic device on the market now comes equipped with email and
internet access. Cell phones, palm tops, computers installed in
automobiles, they all have built-in web access. Each of these
devices display text and graphics differently, and utilize
different platforms and a variety of web browsers.

As a result, someone using a cell phone to access a certain web
site may not be able to view the data on that website properly
because the browser running on that cell phone might not be able
to properly display the HTML. The platforms that run on some of
these newfangled products and devices are simply not 100%
compatible with HTML.

XML solves this problem by making sure that the most important
data on your website can be displayed across all of these
different platforms. This is what makes XML so valuable. The
other important features of XML is that it enables data to be
exchanged between incompatible systems, and because XML files are
plain text files, basically anyone using any system can view the
contents of the text file.

So, if you are a programmer, you need to learn to use XML for
describing, storing, and sending data on the web. With so many
different means available to connect to the internet, you should
learn to use programming languages like XML.

Jim Pretin is the owner of <a
href="http://www.forms4free.com">http://www.forms4free.com</a>, a
service that helps programmers make an HTML form

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