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An [Acronym] (yet another [TLA]) for e__X__tensible __M__arkup __L__anguage.

A [W3C]-maintained standard for a marginally human read-/editable MarkupLanguage. It is a simplified decendant the extremely comprehensive [SGML] standard for which hardly a single fully compliant parser was ever written. Many of its features, even implemented ones, are hardly used. On the other hand, it lacks various useful features. [XML] was designed to address these shortcomings while reducing the language specification to a small set of rules in order to be easily and consistently parsable. It lacks features such as [CONCUR] but adds others such as NameSpace~s (as good an idea in a MarkupLanguage as they are in a ProgrammingLanguage).

[XML] is specialised using a [DTD], an [XML] [Schema], or a [RelaxNG] schema to describe the structure of data within a [XML] document. Each specialisation is actually a new language for marking up a particular type of data. Thus DocBook is a specialisation for marking up the text of books, [XHTML] is a specialisation for marking up web pages, [MathML] is a specialisation for marking up mathematical equations, tables and formulae and [XSLT] is a specialisation for marking up a programming language (a functional programming language expressed in [XML]).

See also:
* [Valid]
* [WellFormed]
* [XHTML]
* [HTML]
* The [W3C] site
* [O'Reilly|http://www.oreillynet.com/]'s [XML.com | http://www.xml.com/]
* The [XML FAQ | http://www.ucc.ie/xml/]
* [Apache]'s [XML Project | http://xml.apache.org/]

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AsSeenOnSlashdot:

    <br> [XML] is like:
    * [SGML] without configurability
    * [HTML] without forgivingness
    * [LISP] without functions
    * [CSV] without flatness
    * [PDF] without Acrobat
    * [ASN.1] without binary encodings
    * EDI without commercial semantics
    * [RTF] without word-processing semantics
    * [CORBA] without tight coupling
    * ZIP without compression or packaging
    * MacromediaFlash without the multimedia
    * A database without a [RDBMS] or [DDL] or [DML] or [SQL] or a formal model
    * A [MIME] header which does not evaporate
    * Morse code with more characters
    * [Unicode] with more control characters
    * A mean spoilsport, depriving programmers the fun of inventing their own syntaxes during work hours
    * The first step in Mao's journey of a thousand miles
    * The intersection of James Clark and [Oracle]
    * The common ground between Simon St. L and Henry Thomson
    * The secret love child of Uche and Elliotte
    * MicrosoftCorporation's secret weapon against [Sun|SunMicrosystems]'s OpenOffice
    * [Sun|SunMicrosystems]'s secret weapon against MicrosoftCorporation's Office
    * The town bicycle
    – Rick Jelliffe

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CategoryStandards
41 pages link to XML:
Last edited on Saturday, March 19, 2005 12:05:40 pm by AristotlePagaltzis
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