Understanding XML
XML, or Extensible Markup Language, is a markup language designed to store and transport data. It is human-readable, platform-independent, and can be used to transmit data between different computer systems. XML is often used to exchange data between business applications, and is used in many web technologies such as RSS feeds, web services, and AJAX.
How Does XML Work?
XML documents are composed of elements, which have a start tag and an end tag. The start tag is indicated by the “<” symbol, and the end tag is indicated by the “>” symbol. Between the two tags, there can be attributes, which provide further information about the element. For example, a student record in XML might look like this: John Smith 25 Computer Science The “student” element is the parent element, and “name”, “age”, and “class” are child elements. All elements have to have a closing tag, even if there is no content inside.
Benefits of XML
XML is a powerful language that offers many benefits, including:
- Human-readable: XML is designed to be easily readable by humans. This makes it easy for humans to create, edit, and understand XML documents.
- Platform independent: XML documents can be used on any platform, from Windows to Mac to Linux. This makes it easy to exchange data between different systems.
- Extensible: XML is extensible, meaning new elements can be added easily. This makes it possible to create custom elements, allowing XML documents to be tailored to specific needs.
Conclusion
XML is an important language for exchanging data between different systems. It is human-readable, platform-independent, and extensible, making it a powerful tool for many web technologies.
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