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The Web is a landmark in the evolution of Internet information systems because its lingua franca allows authors to say what they mean, rather than merely how to say it. W3C's new eXtensible Markup Language (XML) carries that torch forward to a new generation of information services.
Whereas HTML limits writers to a common pool of semantic idioms like
"This is a top-level heading", XML allows publishers to define their
own markup language using application specific meanings. In XML, an
invoice isn't limited to boldfaced part numbers and quantity tables --
now, it can use
The shift to XML will unleash a diverse range of new applications.
Mathematical equation structures are encoded in XML in W3C's new
MathML specification. Databases can be automatically published to the
Web, schemas intact. New metainformation systems can document the
structure of Web content using the Web. New XML-savvy access protocols
can selectively address and download portions of XML documents. New
browsers and client tools can animate and script XML's object model with
ease. Style sheets can automate rendering decisions for new XML tags,
not just on the screen, but for printers, aural output, and beyond.
XML is a milestone on the path to building a mirror of the real
world's knowledge inside the Web. This issue of the Web Journal
is your first look at the technical specifications and early
applications of a new data format that will rock every aspect of the
Web: markup, linking, and exchange. Guest editor Daniel Connolly,
W3C's architecture domain leader, is an ideal guide, having pioneered
the very notion of standardizing HTML as an application of SGML
(Standardized General Markup Language). This issue includes a
foreword by Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web and
director of the W3 Consortium, and contributions from the members
of the XML Working Group: Jon Bosak, Sun Microsystems (Chair); James Clark
(Technical Lead); Tim Bray, Netscape (Coeditor); C. M. Sperberg-McQueen,
University of Illinois (Coeditor); Steve DeRose, INSO; Dave Hollander, HP;
Eliot Kimber, Highland; Tom Magliery, NCSA; Eve Maler, ArborText; Jean Paoli,
Microsoft; and Peter Sharpe, SoftQuad.
Return to XML: Principles, Tools, and Techniques
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