What is XML?

[Randell D.]

Folks,
Can someone point me towards where I can find out what XML is? I'm pretty
clued up with PHP, MySQL, Apache and basic javascript and I've heard alot of
the past year or more on XML but whenever I try to dip my toe into it, the
most I can turn up are XML 'scripts' (?) but nothing that can clearly define
why its so powerful.

My understanding is XML is more a powerful version of HTML as opposed to a
real programming language (I don't mean to frown using the word 'real' but
my understanding is that XML does not contain conditional statements - I
believe it allows you to format data making it more readable using pretty
much any other type of technology out there).

Am I - with the above understanding - anywhere in the vicinity of knowing
what XML is or am I off track and in the dark?

I'd appreciate if someone could point me towards a page that could clarify
my understanding...

Thanks...

 

[Antonios Christofides]

real programming language (I don't mean to frown using the word 'real' but

It's not a programming language, and I doubt anyone seriously has ever
made such a claim. It's a markup language.

http://www.w3schools.com/xml/default.asp has a nice introduction to XML.

BTW, you failed to think of the word "tutorial". If you Google "xml
tutorial", the above comes first in the search results

 

[Mirch Masala]

Folks,
Can someone point me towards where I can find out what XML is? I'm pretty
clued up with PHP, MySQL, Apache and basic javascript and I've heard alot of
the past year or more on XML but whenever I try to dip my toe into it, the
most I can turn up are XML 'scripts' (?) but nothing that can clearly define
why its so powerful.

My understanding is XML is more a powerful version of HTML as opposed to a
real programming language (I don't mean to frown using the word 'real' but
my understanding is that XML does not contain conditional statements - I
believe it allows you to format data making it more readable using pretty
much any other type of technology out there).

Am I - with the above understanding - anywhere in the vicinity of knowing
what XML is or am I off track and in the dark?

I'd appreciate if someone could point me towards a page that could clarify
my understanding...

Thanks...

XML FAQ?

http://www.ucc.ie/xml

vr

 

[Andy Dingley]

http://www.w3schools.com/xml/default.asp has a nice introduction to XML.

The sort of people who can write "HTML was designed to display data
and to focus on how data looks." shouldn't be trusted entirely
though. W3schools is _not_ anything to do with the W3C, and their
tutorials have contained some real howlers in the past.

 

[Peter Flynn]

Folks,
Can someone point me towards where I can find out what XML is?

FAQ. http://www.ucc.ie/xml

I'm pretty
clued up with PHP, MySQL, Apache and basic javascript

They won't help you at all, I'm afraid.
XML is a data format, not a programming language.

My understanding is XML is more a powerful version of HTML

No, XML is the language in which XHTML is written. It's
a meta-language: a language for writing markup languages.

as opposed to a
real programming language (I don't mean to frown using the word 'real' but
my understanding is that XML does not contain conditional statements

XML doesn't have anything to do with programming, per se.
You can use it to describe programming constructs, in such
a way that a processor can use it as a programming language
(this is what XSL and XSLT are) but that is not its primary
purpose.

I
believe it allows you to format data making it more readable

Usable. Readability is to do with formatting, and that's a
separate issue.

Am I - with the above understanding - anywhere in the vicinity of knowing
what XML is or am I off track and in the dark?

A bit off-track, I'm afraid.

I'd appreciate if someone could point me towards a page that could clarify
my understanding...

Try the FAQ.

///Peter

 

[Peter Flynn]

The sort of people who can write "HTML was designed to display data
and to focus on how data looks." shouldn't be trusted entirely
though.

In fact they should be rejected out of hand. I'm afraid a lot
of w3schools stuff is pure rubbish.

///Peter