XML Unleashed

Pondering XML

XML is a simplified subset of SGML that incorporates many of SGML's features, including the big three: extensibility, structure, and validation. In some ways, XML represents a new era for the Web by establishing a means of transmitting structured data. XML is really nothing more than a standardized text format for representing structured information on the Web. I'm intentionally making XML sound simple because something as seemingly simple and insignificant as a text format can have dramatic repercussions in the world of software.

Note

The XML specification is less than a tenth of the size of the SGML specification, which reveals the degree to which SGML was pared down.

XML has been described as "HTML without the training wheels." ...