What is the XML language?

XML is the abbreviation of Extensible Markup Language.

XML is a markup language similar to HTML.

XML is used to describe data.

XML tags are not predefined in XML. You must define your own label.

XML uses a document type definition (DTD) or schema to describe data.

XML is a self-describing language after using DTD or Schema.

What is the main difference between XML and HTML?

XML is used to store data.

XML is not a substitute for HTML. XML and HTML are two languages with different uses.

XML aims to describe data, focusing on: what is data and how to store it.

HTML is designed for displaying data, with emphasis on displaying data and how to display data better.

HTML is related to displaying information, while XML is related to describing information.

"XML" is a language used for network data exchange, and its format is similar to "HTML" which describes web pages. This language has the advantages of "data can be confirmed by Web browser" and "data can be easily generated", so it is mainly used for data exchange and utilization between enterprises or within enterprises. First of all, for the sake of understanding, let's assume that there is such a situation: a book seller wants to set up his own website and send information such as the catalogue and inventory of the bookstore.

When managing books, you need to use table labels to provide data such as title, release date, inventory, author, publisher and pricing in the form of a list. After summarizing the data in this form, if it is a person, you can quickly understand what you need. However, even if the computer (or system) can understand the page structure or data layout, it cannot understand the meaning (attribute) of the data here.

However, "XML" is a technology that can make computers understand these data attributes.

If XML is used, for example, "What is the current inventory?" And "How many books have a writer sold?" And other data can be "automatically" mastered by the computer, which can be "shared" with the trading object. In this way, publishers can refer to these data when making future publishing plans, and it will be easier for sales companies to make effective distribution plans. This will certainly be of great help to reduce personnel costs and improve management efficiency.

Of course, even if you don't use XML, for example, you can build a standardized database and define a name such as "book title" and "pricing" for each field, the computer can understand it. However, it takes considerable manpower and cost to realize this on the Web. At this point, if it is XML, because "data can be confirmed by Web browser", as long as you have a computer with Internet connection and a browser supporting XML, you don't need to make any special investment.

Using XML, you can also convert the data that was difficult to process in the previous database into a database.

XML is described in the same way as HTML, using parentheses, and defined in the same way. Definitions like this can be set freely. Therefore, even many enterprises define XML themselves and then use it for data exchange within their own companies. Such a high degree of freedom is also one of the reasons why XML has attracted much attention.

However, data exchange between enterprises is one of the focuses of XML. Therefore, the definition of each company cannot be universal if it is not standardized. At present, Biztalk.org, a standardization organization led by Microsoft, and Rosetta Net, a non-governmental organization, both hope to make "widely used signs" for various industries and fields, so as to reduce the trouble of defining XML.

If the XML standard can be formulated and widely used as mentioned above, not only the data exchange between enterprises will become simpler, but also the data such as voice data and dynamic image data that were difficult to process in the database in the past will be easily transformed into the database. This can also be said to be a big recommendation in management.