Benefits of XML |
1. Flexible tag markup.The most important feature of XML is that the elements of your document can be whatever you choose. This flexibility allows you to markup your documents using easily understood elements�with meaning rather than presentation. This in turn yields a large return on investment, with limitless possibilities for expressing information due to an infinite tag set. Marking up documents with XML produces highly reusable text�written once and available for use in many different contexts. 2. XML lets you define document structures and make the inherent structure explicit. The flexibility described above allows you to define structure according to your needs. All documents have some implicit structure, be it as simple as a paragraph formatting.With XML, you can take the implicit and make it explicit, making it possible toprocess the text based on its true structure. 3. XML is vendor-independent. Your company is not locked into using a particularvendor, which renders XMLdocuments timeless. This benefit is especially important if you are legally required to keep your documents for a long period of time. In such cases, tying your documents to one vendor proves risky, since even the most establishedvendors may not exist in a few years. One of the most common mistakes made in the business world, aside from looking for a quick fix to a complex problem, is not adapting to change. XML provides you with guarantees by allowing you to design your own standards for re-use. 4. XML is application independent. Just as documents are not tied to a vendor, likewise,they are not locked to an application. Therefore, your documents remain available even when the software becomes obsolete. Additionally, you are afforded the freedom to change the data formats by simply applying a new stylesheet. Using XML to create your documents ensures that your data remains future-proof and platform-independent. 5. XML documents can be validated. In many situations, validation is crucial. Data must be verified to ensure your information will be correctly processed by other applications. Validation is an essential part of successful data management. 6. XML provides context. Using the structures defined by a DTD, it is possible forusers to hone in on relevant information quickly. XML can be used to describe datacontained in a wide variety of applications, from describing collections of web pages to data records. There is no need for a built-in description of the data, since the data is self-describing. 7. XML supports information re-use. The rich structure and device independence of XML means that it can be easily re-used in many different contexts. Unlike typical data formats, XML also makes it possible to re-use information at a very fine grained-level:(i.e. the level of a single element). For instance, XML's structure makes |
Sunday, October 16, 2011
What makes XML such a great technology - by Mangesh.v.s
Source: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/XML/XML_lets_you.aspx - The Code Project
