Welcome to my blog about XML! If you're here, it's probably because you're either confused about what XML is, or you just want to learn more about it. Either way, you've come to the right place! I'm here to break down the basics of XML and hopefully make the subject a little bit more fun. So, if you're ready to get your XML education on, follow me for my next blog posts! Who knows, you might even find XML to be downright hilarious!

What is XML?

• A general purpose markup language.
• Was born in the second half of the 1990’s.
• A key technology that is widely used in the IT industry.

In the strict sense: A syntax for representing structured documents that enables the automatic processing of these documents (i.e., an electronic document format).

In the broadest sense: A set of related specifications that are also called collectively as the XML family.

Comparison of XML and HTML

XML:

• No predefined set of tags
• Its purpose is to describe data
• Is used as a data exchange format

HTML:

• Uses a predefined set of tags
• It is purpose is to present information
• Is a presentation language
• Can be considered as a special application of XML (XHTML)

Advantages and disadvantages of XML

Advantages

• Simplicity
  • XML documents are ordinary text files that can be created and manipulated with any text editor.
• Openness
• Vendor independence
• Platform independence
• A universal data exchange format
• Extensive infrastructure
• A de-facto standard in the industry

Disadvantages

Nevertheless, it is important and has to be lived with.

• Verbose and cumbersome to use syntax
• Highly inefficient storage
• Complexity
  • There seems to be any number of XML-related specifications.

Document-Centric XML

• Documents are composed of text intermingled with markups.
• Highly varied document structure.
• The ordering of elements is important.
• Such documents are primarily intended to be consumed by humans.
• For example, XHTML is such an XML format.

Data-Centric XML

• Documents are composed of a large number of data elements.
• Less random document structure.
• The ordering of elements is less important.
• Such documents are primarily intended to be processed by computers.
• For example, SVG is such an XML format.

Conclusion

Well, there you have it, folks! XML is a powerful tool that can make your web development a breeze. Now you know the basics of XML and how to use it, so why not give it a try? And if you want to learn more about XML, don't forget to follow me for my next blog about XML's advanced features. In the mean time, why not have a laugh and see if you can find a way to use XML to make a joke?