What is XML? - A short Intro

XML, or Extensible Markup Language, is a flexible markup language that is designed to store and transport data. 

It provides a way to describe structured data in a human-readable format that is both machine-readable and platform-independent. 

XML documents consist of text-based data organized into elements and attributes, similar to HTML.

XML, or Extensible Markup Language


Key features of XML


1. Extensible: 

XML is designed to be easily extendable. 

Users can define their own custom elements, attributes, and document structures, making it adaptable to various data representation needs.


2. Hierarchical Structure: 

XML documents are structured hierarchically with elements nested within one another. 

The hierarchical structure makes it suitable for representing complex data relationships.


3. Self-Descriptive: 

XML documents are self-descriptive, meaning they contain metadata that describes the structure and content of the data they contain. 

This makes it easier for applications to interpret and process XML data.


4. Platform and Language Independent: 

This perhaps can be said to be the most important feature; XML is platform-independent and language-independent.

This means it can be used across different operating systems, programming languages, and software applications without running into any compatibility issues.


5. Wide Adoption: 

XML is widely adopted and used in various domains such as 

  • web services (SOAP, RESTful APIs), 
  • configuration files, 
  • data exchange between different systems, 
  • document formats (e.g., XHTML, SVG), 
  • and more.


Overall, XML provides a standardized way to represent and exchange structured data, making it a popular choice for many applications where data interoperability and flexibility are important.

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