What is XML?

If you’ve wondered, “What is XML?” you’ve come to the right place. XML is a standard that allows you to share structured information. You can open XML documents in any text editor. As a result, XML is so ubiquitous that it’s used in many different fields.

XML is a text-based markup language

XML is a text-based language used to describe and represent text. It is extensible and has a low learning curve. With industry-standard support, XML will continue to play a significant role in technology solutions. However, it is essential to note that XML is still in its very early stages.

XML works by delimiting information in a document using start and end tags. Each element is comprised of a set of attributes. The first attribute of a tag is the name, while the second is an attribute. These attributes are used to define the element further.

It is a standard

XML is a general, web-based format for describing documents and other content. This format is widely compatible with significant Internet transmission protocols like HTTP. It is also highly compressed, ensuring faster transmission. It is supported by virtually all major software vendors, including databases. XML is developer- and plain-language-friendly, making it easy to understand even by ordinary users. It is also free and open and can be extended with new tags and features.

XML documents start with an XML version and encoding, then use tags to describe the data. The tags can specify the type of data contained within a document and the heading and body. The format also supports Unicode and multilingual testing.

It is used to share structured information.

XML is used to share structured information between computers and applications. Most computer information is stored in text format, but it is inherently inflexible and makes it difficult to share it between different applications. Using text-based data for sharing between applications would require developers to write custom code to parse the data, and each new data set would need to be parsed individually. By using XML, however, developers can build generic tools that help them better use the data.

XML is widely used today. The format is the basis for many standards, including Universal Business Language (UBL), XMLRPC (a protocol for sharing data among applications), and OOXML (a standard for document exchange). Most databases and programming languages also support it.

It can be opened in any text editor.

If you want to open an XML file, you need an XML editor. Any plain-text editor will work with XML as long as it supports the character set used for the document. Typically, this will be the UTF-8 character set. XML editors can also support a particular “mode” for working with the XML document. Popular free editors include vim, Elvis, and emacs.

Windows 10 opens XML files in the default browser, although you can change this in the context menu and permanent settings. If you’d instead use a text editor, you can use word, Excel, or another word processor to format XML data and display it in a readable format. While Excel is a popular tool, it can be slow to load and read large XML documents. A lightweight text editor, such as notepad, is also helpful. Notepad’s ability to read large documents can be improved with add-ons.

It supports multiple encodings.

XML allows multiple encodings, rendering a single document in different languages. In general, XML should be saved as Unicode, but it’s possible to use other character encodings. These are referred to as foreign-language encodings.

When encoding XML documents, you can choose between UTF-8, ISO-8859-1, or UTF-8. If you don’t specify an encoding, XML programs will assume that you’re using ISO-8859-1. However, you’ll need to change the document’s encoding if you want to use other encodings.

It is portable

XML is a text format that can be used to describe documents. Documents created using XML can be transferred between heterogeneous platforms without the need to transform files. However, both parties must agree to certain conditions to transfer an XML document. First, they must agree on the set of elements and their meanings. Second, they must agree on the order in which methods are invoked in the document.

Another critical benefit of XML is that it is portable and non-proprietary. It can be used for data storage across various platforms and is backed by an international standard. Its ability to support hierarchical data sets makes it ideal for information management backends. Additionally, XML documents can be used to publish to different media.