[tech4all] 12 Reasons Why XML is hot!

Tue, 09 Aug 2005 11:44:26 -0700

12 reasons why XML is hot!

The eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is the universal format for structured documents and data on the Web. This article takes a look at twelve factors behind the growing popularity of XML.

Throughout the past fifty odd editions of Developer IQ, various authors writing for us have been stressing that XML is one of the hottest technologies to have evolved in the recent past. While this message has been forced up on our readers a number of times, perhaps we have missed out an article on why XML is really hot. This has even prompted a mail or two especially from our inquisitive younger readers asking us why XML is hot. We will try answering that question in this article. We will look at what is hot in ‘XML’ in the next article.
Many developers, especially the ones starting off, often think of XML as a sort of extension to HTML, or as an upgrade to HTML. This is a very wrong concept. HTML, which stands for Hyper Text Markup Language, is a meta-language for you to display content on the web. It is the most accepted way to display content today, and browsers readily understand HTML, and render them to provide you a more descriptive view.

XML stands for Extensible Markup Language, and is actually a meta-language to describe the content in terms of data. It is not really bothered about displaying content and is only interested in what the data does and how the data can be manipulated. Thus the goals of HTML and XML are different, and perhaps they compliment each other.

XML is extensible, and the format can be used to describe a huge variety of data. There are several subsets of XML that have originated in the past few years, such as MathML, which is used to describe complex mathematical notation. In short, you can describe XML as a text markup language for interchange of structured data allowing tremendous flexibility and customization. Here are some reasons why XML is billed as the hottest technology to evolve in recent times.

1. It is structured text
The biggest advantage of ‘text’ is that it can be read universally. There are few platforms and applications that cannot read plain text. XML is essentially a text document. The advantage over other text formats is that XML is a structured text format. XML can provide meaning to blocks, lines and sentences of text in a document. For example you can use XML to clearly demarcate between details in an address such as name, middle name, surname, street name, country and so on. Yes, you can also use a simple database to do it. But remember, databases store information in binary format, while XML does the job using text format.

2. It is a technology of the Internet age
XML is actually the web-enabled format of SGML. SGML, which stands for Standard Generalized Markup Language, is a format that is used for tagging and organizing elements of a document. SGML was developed way back in 1986, and is considered as a format that is rather complex. Its specification documentation alone runs to more than 330 pages. XML has simplified SGML, retaining the power of the original specifications, and making it as simple as HTML. It supports and interoperates with a number of open formats such as HTTP, SMTP, FTP, URL, SSL and others.

3. XML makes e-business cheap
XML has also provided a plethora of standards and specifications to choose from, like RosettaNet, ebXML, UDDI and cXML, which enable e-Business. One of the challenges in conducting e-business is communicating with other organizations, whether they are partners, suppliers, competitors, or even other groups within the same company. The use of accepted XML standards simplifies business-to-business communication because the only thing that any two organizations have to agree on is the implementation of those standards.

4. It is cheap and also free
XML is also a product of the open systems age. This has meant few controls on the platform from companies. There are several software applications available that are open source, which support XML. You have a number of editors, parsers, and language tools for XML that are free.

5. XML separates process from content
We already discussed that XML separates presentation from the content. XML also separates the process from the content, since it does not specify any manner in which the process should take place explicitly. Hence the data layer, programming layer and presentation layer, in a program that is XML driven, are separate. Suppose you have created an XML document and written a program to manipulate it. Even if you later make some changes externally to the document, your program will still be good enough. XML documents are both future proof and are loosely coupled.

6. XML is open and supported by one and all
Whenever we ask industry pundits what will come after XML, there are few answers. That is because the industry seems to be very happy with whatever XML is offering today. Almost all vendors support XML and are clear that XML is the format to be used for data interchange. There are few standards that have received such unprecedented support. Apart from vendors, almost all standards organization in the industry support XML.

7. Implementing standards using XML is simple and cheap
XML is a data interchange format. There have been several standards for data interchange before. But they were either proprietary or were very expensive. Consider EDI, and the large number of solutions from companies such as IBM. Using XML, arriving on a standard is as simple as arriving on a common schema or a DTD (Document Type Definition). A DTD states what tags and attributes are used to describe content in an SGML, XML or HTML document, where each tag is allowed, and which tags can appear within other tags. Hence a set of elements, tags, attributes, semantics and processes help you to set up an EDI engine using XML.

8. XML interoperates with existing Security standards and solutions
Information security is a major concern for one and all. Since XML can make use of the existing Internet and network infrastructure, it can take advantage of the framework for providing different degrees of security. This includes the following subjects that come under security.
· Encryption (“wire-level security”) – protecting data from prying eyes
· Authentication – making sure the receiver of data is who they say they are
· Authorization – Access level security
· Privacy – you can access this data, but nobody else
· Permissions and Data integrity – don’t mess with the data
And on each and every point discussed above, there exists credible solutions on XML technologies.

9. XML is an easy technology to be internationalized
In the coming years, there will be a substantial increase in the number of computer users speaking languages apart from English. Information Technology has largely been built by the English-speaking world. Since business documentation in many countries is in local languages, it is important that thee is support for local languages while automating the processes. One of the drawbacks to EDI and some text file and database formats is that they don’t easily support the needs for internationalization and localization. Currently, in those formats, it is difficult to represent information contained in a Unicode alphabet. XML as part of its initial specification supports these needs inherently.
XML syntax allows for international characters that follow the Unicode standard to be included as content in any XML element. These can then be marked up and included in any XML-based exchange. The availability of internationalization features helps to avoid one of the problems faced by other formats, that of unnecessary schism and conflict in presenting information to different geographies.

10. Various Development languages are XML ready
XML was never meant to be a programming language. It was meant to be a better way of representing information in an increasingly linked, online world. XML is a very simple and effective means of data exchange across platforms. The fact that companies are over-hyping XML is a function of the market’s desire to build unique products and build unique value propositions. XML is easy to learn, implement, read, and test. It has shortened product development time for most XML related and data exchange projects that have used available XML standards and technologies.
Developers writing applications in Java, C++, Python, Perl, VB, PHP and many other languages are already aware about the rich support for XML in these languages. Hence while some critics complain that XML is not a programming language on its own, the plethora of utilities and modules available in popular languages negate that drawback.

11. XML is free from future patent imbroglios and licensing issues
One of the biggest deterrents that prevented large enterprises from embracing some of the open standards and many open source technologies last year was a worry about future patent or Intellectual Property related issues. This has forced a number of CIOs to bet on proprietary technologies and solutions. Anyone looking at XML at this point of time need not be worried about such problems.

12. XML supports dynamic database formats
XML can also be used to store data in files or in databases. Applications can be written to store and retrieve information from the store, and generic applications can be used to display the data. XML can also be used in situations where an external database may not be possible, or preferred. 



Regards,
VijayaraaghavanAM

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