Introduction
Have you ever conducted a search on the Web that returned 500 hits? Even worse, the information you really want ends up being hit number 230 out of 500?
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is an emerging standard that could replace Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) as the primary Web language, changing the way you do searches and much more. XML will make it easier to index data on the Web, allowing consumers to conduct more specific searches, and companies to standardize information exchange over the internet.
Is it a big deal?
You bet your markup language it is. World Wide Web consortium (W3C http://www.w3.org), a group comprised of technology leaders from 14 major companies along with industry visionaries are working together to define XML. The new language promises to reduce costs for any company that maintains information on the internet or an intranet, change the way companies can conduct business over the internet, and of course enhance our ability to search and access information.
Our current Web standard, HTML, is designed primarily to describe the appearance of a Web page. XML not only describes the appearance of a Web page, but also identifies the types of data in the page. For instance, you could write about your new Ferrari in HTML and include text regarding its cost, speed, and color.
XML would allow you to take the same text and permit you to identify (or tag as technophiles would say) certain text as a data field, such as speed: 180 MPH, color: Red, and cost: $99,000. The document looks the same, but the ability to create specific data fields (Speed, color, cost) for certain text items in XML provides significant advantages. Based on these fields created with XML, people could use an XML enabled search engine to find a Red Ferrari that goes 180 MPH and costs less than $100,000. With the current HTML standard where speed, color and cost are just part of the text but not identified as particular data fields, your search may yield hundreds of sites about Ferraris, the color red and how to make $100,000 without really trying, but absolutely nothing about a car that meets all those requirements. XML allows one to define data by using tags, which can help facilitate more concise and accurate searches, as well as precise business data interchange for e-commerce. The ability to create tags, which allow things like the indexing, updating, and transfer of data, is what it's all about.
So as you wade through all the techno mumbo jumbo, keep your eye on the big picture. XML is a language that facilitates the creation and description of data fields (tags) for the Web, facilitating things like more precise searches, document updates, and data transfer between businesses.