What are XML Advantage ?

• XML is a meta-markup language that enables the creation of markup languages for particular documents and domains.
• XML tags describe the structure and semantics of a document’s content, not the format of the content. The format is described in a separate style sheet.
• XML documents are created in an editor, read by a parser, and displayed by a browser.
• XML on the Web rests on the foundations provided by HTML, CSS, and URLs.
• Numerous supporting technologies layer on top of XML, including XSL style sheets, XLinks, and XPointers. These let you do more than you can accomplish with just CSS and URLs.
• XML tags are not pre-defined. You must define your own tags

What is XML?

XML stands for Extensible Markup Language. XML is a simple, very flexible text format derived from Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML - ISO 8879). Originally designed to meet the challenges of large-scale electronic publishing, XML is also playing an increasingly important role in management, display, organization and the exchange of a wide variety of data on the Web and elsewhere.

XML is text-based formats that provide mechanisms for describing document structures using markup tags (words surrounded by '<' and '>'). XML is not really a "language" at all, but it is a standard for creating languages that meet the XML criteria. In other words, XML describes a syntax that you use to create your own languages.

XML is recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium. It is a fee-free open standard. The W3C recommendation specifies both the lexical grammar, and the requirements for parsing.