Understanding XML

XML was first created as a solution to the complexity inherent in the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), the granddaddy of all structured markup languages. What you may not know is that SGML actually contains the rules that define how to produce other markup languages, such as HTML. XML is just a subset or restriction of those rules, providing the specifications for producing markup for all kinds of content based on a few simple conventions.

XML documents are either well formed, meaning they contain a single root element that contains every other element (or none), or valid, meaning they are well formed and all their elements adhere to all the constraints set forth in their associated Document Type Definition (DTD) ...

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