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‭Extensible Markup Language‬

‭(XML)‬

‭Name : RIYA HALDER‬

‭GARGI MEMORIAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY‬

‭paper name : WEB AND INTERNET TECHNOLOGY‬

‭Paper code : PEC-CS801D‬

‭Instructor : PRONITA MUKHERJEE‬

‭Date : 08/03/2025‬
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‭Introduction‬

‭Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a widely used data format‬

‭that facilitates the storage, transmission, and structuring of‬
‭information in a human-readable and machine-readable‬
‭manner. Developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C),‬
‭XML provides a flexible framework for encoding documents and‬
‭data structures in a format that is both software- and‬
‭hardware-independent. This report explores XML in depth,‬
‭covering its history, syntax, applications, advantages, and‬
‭challenges.‬

‭There are many languages based on XML, including XHTML,‬

‭MathML, SVG, RSS, and RDF. You can also define your own.‬

‭History of XML‬

‭XML was developed in the late 1990s as a simplification of the‬

‭Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), which was too‬
‭complex for many applications. The first XML specification,‬
‭XML 1.0, was published by the W3C in 1998. It was designed to‬
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‭improve upon the limitations of HTML by allowing users to‬

‭define their own elements, making it a more flexible and scalable‬
‭solution for various data exchange and web-based applications.‬

‭Structure of an XML document‬

‭The whole structure of XML and XML-based languages is built on tags.‬

‭XML declaration‬

‭XML - declaration is not a tag. It is used for the transmission of‬

‭the meta-data of a document.‬
‭➢‬ ‭<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>‬

‭Attributes‬
Version‬
‭
‭Used version XML in this document.‬
Encoding‬
‭
‭Used encoding in this document.‬

‭“Correct” XML (valid and well-formed)‬

‭For an XML document to be correct, the following conditions‬
‭must be fulfilled:‬
‭●‬ ‭Document must be well-formed.‬
‭●‬ ‭Document must conform to all XML syntax rules.‬
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‭●‬ ‭Document must conform to semantic rules, which are‬

‭usually set in an XML schema or a DTD (Document Type‬
‭Definition)‬

‭Example‬
‭<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>‬
‭<message>‬
‭<warning>‬
‭Hello World‬
‭<!--missing </warning> -->‬
‭</message>‬

‭Now let's look at a corrected version of that same document:‬

‭<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>‬
‭<message>‬
‭<warning>‬
‭Hello World‬
‭</warning>‬
‭</message>‬
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‭A document that contains an undefined tag is invalid. For‬

‭example, if we never defined the <warning> tag, the document‬
‭above wouldn't be valid.‬

‭Most browsers offer a debugger that can identify poorly-formed‬

‭XML documents.‬

‭Character references‬
‭Like HTML, XML offers character references for referring to‬
‭some special reserved characters (such as a greater than sign‬
‭which is used for tags). There are five of these characters :‬
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‭XML Syntax and Structure‬

‭XML documents consist of elements enclosed within tags,‬

‭following a hierarchical structure. Some fundamental rules and‬
‭components of XML syntax include:‬

‭●‬ ‭Elements: The basic building blocks, enclosed in opening‬

‭(‬‭<tag>‬‭) and closing (‬‭</tag>‬‭) tags.‬
‭●‬ ‭Attributes: Provide additional information about an‬
‭element, specified within the opening tag (e.g.,‬‭<person‬
‭age="30">‬‭).‬

‭●‬ ‭Prolog: The XML declaration at the beginning of the‬

‭document (e.g.,‬‭<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>‬‭).‬
‭●‬ ‭Well-formedness: XML documents must adhere to correct‬
‭nesting, case sensitivity, and a single root element.‬
‭●‬ ‭Comments: Inserted using‬‭<!-- comment -->‬‭.‬
‭●‬ ‭CDATA Sections: Used to include data that should not be‬
‭parsed as XML markup (‬‭<![CDATA[ raw data ]]>‬‭).‬
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‭Displaying XML‬
‭XML is usually used for descriptive purposes, but there are ways‬
‭to display XML data. If you don't define a specific way for the‬
‭XML to be rendered, the raw XML is displayed in the browser.‬
‭One way to style XML output is to specify CSS to apply to the‬
‭document using the xml-stylesheet processing instruction.‬
‭<?xml-stylesheet type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css"?>‬

‭There is also another more powerful way to display XML: the‬

‭Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) which‬
‭can be used to transform XML into other languages such as‬
‭HTML. This makes XML incredibly versatile.‬
‭<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="transform.xsl"?>‬

‭Applications of XML‬

‭XML is widely used in various fields and technologies, including:‬

‭1.‬ ‭Web Development: Used in web services such as SOAP‬

‭(Simple Object Access Protocol) and configuration files like‬
‭XHTML.‬
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‭2.‬ ‭Data Storage and Exchange: Acts as an intermediary format‬

‭for data exchange between different software and systems.‬
‭3.‬ ‭Configuration Files: Many applications use XML-based‬
.NET‬‭applications,‬
‭configuration files to store settings (e.g.,‬‭
‭Android manifests).‬
‭4.‬ ‭RSS Feeds: Used to syndicate content such as blogs and‬
‭news updates.‬
‭5.‬ ‭Document Management: Forms the foundation of‬
‭standards like DocBook and OpenDocument.‬
‭6.‬ ‭Database Interactions: XML-based databases like BaseX and‬
‭Oracle XML DB store and query structured data.‬

‭How Can XML be Used?‬

‭XML is used in many aspects of web development.‬

‭XML is often used to separate data from presentation.‬

‭XML Separates Data from Presentation‬

‭XML does not carry any information about how to be displayed.‬

‭The same XML data can be used in many different presentation‬
‭scenarios.‬
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‭Because of this, with XML, there is a full separation between data‬

‭and presentation.‬

‭XML is Often a Complement to HTML‬

‭In many HTML applications, XML is used to store or transport‬

‭data, while HTML is used to format and display the same data.‬

‭XML Separates Data from HTML‬

‭When displaying data in HTML, you should not have to edit the‬
‭HTML file when the data changes.‬
‭With XML, the data can be stored in separate XML files.‬
‭With a few lines of JavaScript code, you can read an XML file and‬
‭update the data content of any HTML page.‬

‭Transaction Data‬

‭Thousands of XML formats exist, in many different industries,‬

‭to describe day-to-day data transactions:‬
‭●‬ ‭Stocks and Shares‬
‭●‬ ‭Financial transactions‬
‭●‬ ‭Medical data‬
‭●‬ ‭Mathematical data‬
‭●‬ ‭Scientific measurements‬
‭●‬ ‭News information‬
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‭●‬ ‭Weather services‬

‭The XML Tree Structure‬

‭What is an XML Element?‬

‭An XML element is everything from (including) the element's‬

‭start tag to (including) the element's end tag.‬
‭An element can contain:‬
‭●‬ ‭text‬
‭●‬ ‭attributes‬
‭●‬ ‭other elements‬
‭●‬ ‭or a mix of the above‬
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‭XML HttpRequest‬

‭All modern browsers have a built-in XMLHttpRequest object to‬

‭request data from a server.‬

‭The XMLHttpRequest Object‬

‭The XMLHttpRequest object can be used to request data from a‬

‭web server.‬
‭The XMLHttpRequest object is a developers dream, because you‬
‭can:‬
‭●‬ ‭Update a web page without reloading the page‬
‭●‬ ‭Request data from a server - after the page has loaded‬
‭●‬ ‭Receive data from a server - after the page has loaded‬
‭●‬ ‭Send data to a server - in the background‬

‭XML Parser‬

‭All major browsers have a built-in XML parser to access and‬

‭manipulate XML.‬
‭The XML DOM (Document Object Model) defines the properties‬
‭and methods for accessing and editing XML.‬
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‭However, before an XML document can be accessed, it must be‬

‭loaded into an XML DOM object.‬
‭All modern browsers have a built-in XML parser that can convert‬
‭text into an XML DOM object.‬

‭Advantages of XML‬

‭●‬ ‭Platform Independence: XML can be used across different‬

‭operating systems and applications.‬
‭●‬ ‭Self-Descriptive: Elements contain both data and metadata,‬
‭making the document easy to understand.‬
‭●‬ ‭Extensibility: Users can define their own tags and structure.‬
‭●‬ ‭Human-Readable: XML is structured in a way that is‬
‭understandable to both humans and machines.‬
‭●‬ ‭Integration with Other Technologies: XML can be used with‬
‭XSLT for transformation, XPath for querying, and XQuery‬
‭for data manipulation.‬

‭Challenges and Limitations‬

‭Despite its benefits, XML has some drawbacks:‬

‭●‬ ‭Verbose Syntax: XML documents can be bulky due to‬

‭redundant tags.‬
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‭●‬ ‭Processing Overhead: Parsing XML requires more‬

‭computational resources compared to lightweight formats‬
‭like JSON.‬
‭●‬ ‭Complexity in Data Querying: Unlike relational databases,‬
‭querying XML data requires additional tools like XPath and‬
‭XQuery.‬
‭●‬ ‭Security Concerns: XML-based attacks, such as XML‬
‭External Entity (XXE) attacks, can pose threats if not‬
‭handled properly.‬

‭XML vs. JSON‬

‭In recent years, JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) has gained‬

‭popularity as an alternative to XML, especially in web APIs. A‬
‭comparison of the two formats:‬

‭●‬ ‭Readability‬‭: JSON is more concise and readable compared to‬

‭XML.‬
‭●‬ ‭Data Processing‬‭: JSON has better native support in‬
‭JavaScript and requires less parsing overhead.‬
‭●‬ ‭Use Cases‬‭: XML is preferred in document-centric‬
‭applications, whereas JSON is widely used in web services‬
‭and APIs.‬
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‭Future of XML‬

‭Despite the rise of JSON and other modern data formats, XML‬
‭continues to be relevant in various domains, especially where‬
‭data integrity, standardization, and document handling are‬
‭crucial. The integration of XML with AI-driven data processing‬
‭and cloud computing is expected to keep it in use for years to‬
‭come.‬

‭Conclusion‬

‭XML remains a robust and widely used format for data‬

‭structuring, transmission, and storage. Its flexibility,‬
‭extensibility, and self-descriptive nature make it a powerful tool‬
‭for various industries, despite the growing adoption of‬
‭alternative data formats. Understanding XML and its‬
‭applications is essential for developers, data analysts, and IT‬
‭professionals dealing with structured data and interoperability‬
‭challenges.‬