Seems it was derived from SGML, I guess not a subset, but not created from the ground up either :)
Small quote from: http://www.w3.org/XML/ Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a simple, very flexible text format derived from SGML (ISO 8879). Originally designed to meet the challenges of large-scale electronic publishing, XML is also playing an increasingly important role in the exchange of a wide variety of data on the Web and elsewhere. Cheers, Rob. On Mon, 2003-10-27 at 23:50, Ryan Thompson wrote: > Just a small correction. I could be wrong but I don't believe XML is a subset > of SGML but created to be used instead of. It was created from the ground up > to replace SGML(not the easiest language to work with). > > On Monday 27 October 2003 23:21, Robert Cummings wrote: > > On Mon, 2003-10-27 at 20:40, Simon Fredriksson wrote: > > > I think I've missed something somewhere, but how do I use XML? > > > Everywhere, there are big hypes about XML. I could proably google quite > > > a bit on this, but could someone give me a hint on how to use it in, say > > > datahandling? Or to parse a website (like the php docs). > > > > PHP docs are SGML as far as I can remember. I think XML is a subset of > > SGML. I would agree that XML in many cases has been hyped, but from a > > practical point of view it does also have a lot of merit. One of the > > examples I have found for it to work extremely well is on my MUD project > > (Multi User Dimension). For example let's say we have a player with the > > following stats: > > > > strength > > intelligence > > wisdom > > dexterity > > constitution > > > > We could define an XML document which stores this data in clear, > > concise, and human readable fashion such as the following: > > > > <player> > > <strength> 15 </strength> > > <intelligence> 19 </intelligence> > > <wisdom> 18 </wisdom> > > <dexterity> 14 </dexterity> > > <constitution> 10 </constitution> > > </player> > > > > This is a pretty simple format, the fields are self explanatory. Now one > > of the great advantages of XML is its flexibility. Let's say I now want > > to add support for a charisma field... well it's as simple as adding the > > field to the data, and if it doesn't exist assuming a default: > > > > <player> > > <strength> 15 </strength> > > <intelligence> 19 </intelligence> > > <wisdom> 18 </wisdom> > > <dexterity> 14 </dexterity> > > <charisma> 17 </charisma> > > <constitution> 10 </constitution> > > </player> > > > > In older data formats such as binary, to add such a field would > > generally require that version information be stored at the beginning of > > the document and then when the data is resaved it would be saved as the > > newer version. This caused problems with multiple versions in existence, > > whereas with XML since the fields don't necessarily need to have any > > kind of order, we don't need to keep track of version, only whether or > > not the field was included. The other alternative (if you had complete > > control over the data) was to convert it all to the new format which was > > generally a tedious job and required a fair amount of effort to ensure > > the validity of the new format. This is quite a trivialization of XML, > > but this is one of the main advantages I see for it. One could easily > > define a multitude of other formats that are just as flexible, but > > currently XML is well supported by the development community and so is > > probably the better choice. As with all things, your mileage may vary. > > > > HTH, > > Rob. > > -- > Ryan Thompson > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://osgw.sourceforge.net > ============================== > "A computer scientist is someone who fixes > things that aren't broken" --Unknown > > -- .------------------------------------------------------------. | InterJinn Application Framework - http://www.interjinn.com | :------------------------------------------------------------: | An application and templating framework for PHP. Boasting | | a powerful, scalable system for accessing system services | | such as forms, properties, sessions, and caches. InterJinn | | also provides an extremely flexible architecture for | | creating re-usable components quickly and easily. | `------------------------------------------------------------' -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
