Internet &
Intranets: XML,do
M, XSL, RDF and related technologies
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Intro
"XML, the Extensible Markup Language, is a universal syntax for describing and
structuring data independent from the application logic. XML can be used to
define unlimited languages for specific industries and applications. ... XML
promises to simplify and lower the cost of data interchange and publishing
in a Web environment. XML is a text-based syntax that is readable by both
computer and humans. XML offers data portability and reusability across
different platforms and devices. It is also flexible and extensible, allowing
new tags to be added without breaking an existingdo
cument structure. Based
on Unicode, XML provides global language support." (Sun Microsystems)
"Thedo
cument Object Model (DOM) is a platform- and language-neutral interface
that will allow programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the
content, structure and style ofdo
cuments. Thedo
cument can be further
processed and the results of that processing can be incorporated back
into the presented page." (W3C)
"Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) is a language for expressing
stylesheets. It consists of two parts: a language for transforming XML
do
cuments, and an XML vocabulary for specifying formatting semantics.
An XSL stylesheet specifies the presentation of a class of XMLdo
cuments
by describing how an instance of the class is transformed into an XMLdo
cument
that uses the formatting vocabulary." (W3C)
"RDF - the Resource Description Framework - is a framework for metadata;
it
provides interoperability between applications that exchange machine-
understandable information on the Web. RDF emphasizes facilities to enable
automated processing of Web resources. RDF metadata can be used in a variety
of application areas. ... In general, RDF provides the basis for generic tools
for authoring, manipulating, and searching machine understandable data on the
Web thereby promoting the transformation of the Web into a machine-processable
repository of information." (W3C)