Introduction To XML (Page 1 of 8 )
It's a fact of life that XML, which stands for eXtensible Markup Language, is invading our lives more and more as programmers, and I feel this is a good thing. The reason being XML has the ability to cross all sorts of boundaries, and probably the only chance we have to obtain a truly independent, cross-platform data transfer format.
Data integration and data exchange is one of the key features in XML that will have wide usage in the future which means that applications would be able to exchange data. All large and small players in the computer industry are adopting XML. Hence XML is and will be a sure key enabler for e-business. Sound’s quite intriguing and fascinating isn’t it? Then read this article to understand why and how.
You may think in this strange world where standards come and go like seasons, even a single standard are fragmented by companies seeking competitive advantage. XML however, appears to be different. The technologies that dominate the market for data storage are pre-relational and relational databases that manage traditional data types like numbers and text. But with the advent of XML into the market, we have amazing new products that can manage and process "diligent data”, which means self-describing data. Relational systems will always be recommended for storing text and numbers, but if communication and processing are the priorities, XML is the technology of choice.
How is ASP and XML related? If you are using ASP to create a web site, then chances are pretty high that you are using a database to store data. XML is another format for storing data and being increasing used.
We’ve already seen XML support be introduced into Internet Explorer and ADO, but the support is far from full. The trouble stems from the fact that ADO and IE are evolving at different rates. While it is true that browser support is limited (although W3C's Amaya browser as well as JUMBO browser supports it), in the near future all browsers are expected to fully support XML, and ADO and IE albeit would be more integrated. This shouldn't give you the impression that XML is useless, until a browser supports it. XML isn't about display, it’s about structure.
XML is gaining universal acceptance and is sure to stay in future. Parsing algorithms and tools continue to improve as more and more people come to know the long-term benefits of moving their data to XML.
Technical gurus claim that XML is revolutionizing the way we communicate, spread and exchange information across the Web and within Intranets. This powerful language will help you do things with your data that you never before thought possible.
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