33476A Guide to XML by Norman Walshhttp://www.xml.com/pub/a/w3j/s3.walsh.htmlBecause other articles in this issue of the Web Journal describe the motivations for XML and some of its goals, this article is intended to serve as a slightly more technical introduction to XML and as an overview of the specification. Throughout this document you will find references of the form [Section 1]; these are references to the XML language specification included in this issue. If you are interested in more technical detail about a particular topic, please consult the specification.XML > Tips and Tutorials > Introduction to XMLOct 17, 2006
If you have some familiarity with HTML, you have some concept of what markup language is. If you write a plain text file, it is composed of simple ASCII characters and nothing more. When a program (such as notepad) is used to display the file, all characters in the text file will be displayed using the same font size, type, and boldness. There are no special display characteristics to this type of file.
Because other articles in this issue of the Web Journal describe the motivations for XML and some of its goals, this article is intended to serve as a slightly more technical introduction to XML and as an overview of the specification. Throughout this document you will find references of the form [Section 1]; these are references to the XML language specification included in this issue. If you are interested in more technical detail about a particular topic, please consult the specification.
It is somewhat remarkable to think that this article, which appeared initially in the Winter 1997 edition of the World Wide Web Journal was out of date by the time the final XML Recommendation was approved in February. And even as this update brings the article back into line with the final spec, a new series of recommendations are under development. When finished, these will bring namespaces, linking, schemas, stylesheets, and more to the table.
Joining mailing list will entitle you
to receive occasional emails informing you of news and
updates to the site and any special offers that may be
of interest to you.