How useful is XML.....?

Question

I want to do web design for work and I need an advanced, thorough, up-to-date knowledge of everything I need to use. I am ordering XML in a Nutshell as I found a place where I can get it online for only $9.00. I'm planning on learning it, but I don't know if I'll ever end up using it. Someone told me that most businesses these days are using XML for their websites, though to me it doesn't seem like it's used that much (almost all of the web pages I can find are written in HTML 4.0 or HTML 4.01). What is XML used for, mainly?

Answer 1

In the 11+ years I've been doing web development, I've seen XML used as:



- app configuration specification, e.g., this is THE way J(2)EE deployment descriptors are specified



- app declaration language, e.g., there are translators that convert back and forth from XML to code



- app resource specification, e.g., declaration of app-related control and supplemental support and extension data



- web and app server regulation and control, e.g., Apache, Tomcat, etc.



- inter-system representation for data exchanges, e.g., OASIS in the insurance industry



- AJAX (yes, some people actually use XML for this)



- data serialization, e.g., saving data that does not easily decompose into relational databases but has entity/attribute content



- XHTML is (a fully compliant) XML reformulation of HTML 4 and the ongoing evolution of markup for the browser is in the direction of pure XML



- representation of content that may be translated via XSLT into a variety of final forms that are not XML when delivered



The shorter answer is XML has bunches of uses and, yes, you should become acquainted with it, if you intend to do web-work.This is not even an "advanced" topic/skill in the web development arena. You may not need to become a full-blown expert in the design and creation of DTDs and schemas, but you need to grasp thoroughly the fundamentals and be able to read and compose well-formed XML documents.

Answer 2

specific, XML is crucial yet with the Java APIs that take care of XML. XML can describe GUI varieties, ANT build scripts, continual documents for application states and documents superhighway pages. the biggest API are DOM, SAX and JDOM. And, there are extra third-party API. the difficulty is finding out on one and discovering it thoroughly.

Answer 3

In new computer architectures, XML is used everywhere. It's used for data storage, for displaying data, to describe protocols, to describe data, as markup languages (XHTML, etc.), and most importantly, as a format for messages between various software components. Knowing XML is simple. Knowing how to use XML in a large software system as a message format like SOAP is not quite as simple.



As an aside, it's not used much for simple tasks. But in the business software world, it's ubiquitous in nature.

Answer 4

I have yet to really study it but it is something to know and its mainly a hidden component. Websites will reference the XML file to obtain data to display. If you view a raw .xml file it will just look like structured code and not a webpage.

Answer 5

Apple actually uses a form of xml for their iphone/ipod apps.



Rss Feeds.



Xml content is used with most media players like video and mp3 players on the web.



Can even be imported with flash.



Xml can be static or dynamic (works with your database) which makes it unique. It has a lot of uses its very flexible and has a lot of uses.

Answer 6

/facepalm

You know all those "HTML" and "XHTML" websites you're talking about? They have XML on the backend...



Here, watch this video that explains Web 2.0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g