The ideas behind XML
- we need something more SGML-like: general meta-information
The XML design
- separates syntax (structural representation) from semantics
(visual rendering or other processing) - and only considers syntax
- contains no fixed set of markup tags - we may define our
own tags, tailored for our kind of information
- has built-in internationalization (full Unicode) and
platform independence
The vision: XML as the universal format for structuring
information - no more proprietary/obscure/bit-hacking/inflexible/incompatible formats.
Rendering in browsers is completely defined by style sheets
(e.g. CSS or XSL).
The basic benefit of XML:
Generic tools for e.g. querying and transformation can
be made.
