Web 2.0: Principles and Best Practices

B.1.

B.1.1. Technologies

• Really Simple Syndication (RSS). An XML text-based data format containing a list of items, each typically with a title, summary, URL link, and date (some additional data is optional). RSS, when published, is often referred to as a syndicated feed. Users subscribe to feeds using feed readers or aggregators that can be web-based or desktop applications. Multiple versions of RSS exist. Operating system providers, such as Microsoft via Windows Vista, are now integrating RSS support directly at the OS level. Many types of information are commonly published in RSS (such as blog and news data) but the simplicity and utility of RSS are leading to much more widespread usage. For example, del.icio.us lets users subscribe to bookmarks added for any subject or by any person; Flickr lets customers subscribe to another person's photostream. Microsoft CTO Ray Ozzie sees "using RSS as a DNA of sorts to enable 'mesh' information sharing...RSS has the potential to be the 'Unix pipe of the Internet.'"^[] See also:

  • All About RSS, http://faganfinder.com/search/rss.shtml

  • Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(file_format)

• Atom. A more recent XML-based data syndication format intended to provide greater structure and XML standards compliance than RSS. Atom 1.0 became an IETF standard in 2005 as RFC 4287. Ongoing debate exists between advocates of RSS (simplicity) and Atom (features), although most tools for XML-based syndication support both formats. There is also an Atom ...