Assessment for Mark up Languages for the Web - Essay Example

CW assessment for mark up languages for the web Word Count: 1500 {Introduction to Conclusion} Contents of the Report: Introduction. Markup Languages. Evolution of XML. Case studies. Conclusion. References. Introduction As the technology was pacing up there was a necessity for all the information present online to appear consistent and easily understandable. Internet was a powerful weapon to provide the required information to a user that was relevant and easy to access within a split second. This had to be carried out by implemented various styles (Natanya Pitts-Moultis and Cheryl Kirk, 1998). The problem faced was that various clients would adapt different styles of their choice which might result in incompatibility over the wide spread users. There had to be standards adopted for attaining specific styles that could support the numerous requirements of the users. Thus the concept of style sheets had evolved. Markup Languages The code for designing the style sheets was similar to English language, which brought in the new problems such as distinguishing the code from the data. Thus to differentiate them both the designer had to "mark-up" the specific styles for the codes to appear in the preferred fashion. Thus the Markup Languages came into existence. The very first Markup Language was the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) which was a general mark-up Language used for specialized applications on computers. Later on in 1990 Tim Berners Lee created the first Web Server named as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) that enabled the users to access the text in a nonsequential pattern based on the SGML fundamentals (Steven Holzner, 2005). Thus XML was the improvised version of previous mark up languages that was used to enhance the web features. Evolution of XML XML an abbreviation for eXtensible Markup Language has been designed in order to possess all the extended features of its predecessors such as HTML and SGML markup Languages. The extended features are the benefits that make the XML language a consistent and simple language to use (Selena Sol, nd). XML is a language that is used for management and exchange of data over the Internet. It basically implements the Cascading style sheets (CSS) for displaying functionality. XML on its own has few benefits and drawbacks followed below. Benefits: Listed below are some benefits of XML. Self descriptive documents - This feature enables the user to easily document the application as there is no complexity in implementing the standards. Interoperability - It provides the dynamic messaging feature among various personnel. Hierarchical structure - It enables the implementation of Inheritance and easy adaptation to new changes. Platform independent - This feature helps in executing the various XML documents on diverse platforms indeed resulting in portability (Chris Kinsman & Jeffrey McManus, 2002). Updating the documents with ease - the Xml documents can be dynamically updated based on the new releases of products, thus providing a comparative feature on compatible types. Wide range of presentation features - It provides excellent presentation features that ease the browsing and processing of queries for a user. Overcomes tag constraint standards - The tags have not been strictly standardized in order to enable the programmer to design an appropriate XML application based on the requirements. Easy alterations of formats - The addition and deletion of data are carried out with ease based o the above features. Hassle free retrieval of accurate data - The user is provided with the accurate data retrieval feature pertaining to their requirements. Drawbacks: XML had definitely overcome the restrictions of former markup languages, but up to a certain extent only. As the various necessities kept on increasing the limitations of XML had turned out to be the drawbacks (Gurpreet Kunwar, nd). Specific application for processing - XML requires a specific processing application such as Internet Explorer, Netscape navigator or Mozilla Firefox to process the contents. Lack of parsing tools - the parsing of Xml content to HTML content requires parsers that are not fully developed in order to provide the required features. Might result in a lengthier document - As usual, if a document is easier to code then it results in increased size. Case Studies Let us consider the following case studies in order to check the results of companies that have upgraded their technology with the help of XML. Case Study 1: (Danske Bank, 2003) Danske Bank is considered to be the largest bank in Denmark that serves the Danish corporate and retail markets. Thus Danske Bank has multiple brands that serve a particular set of customers based on their categories (Microsoft .com, 2003). As there were multiple brands associated, it brought in a multiple set of technical requirements that need to be addressed. This was a huge challenge for the IT department of Danske Bank to support all the specific requirements of the users and translate them to directed departments for processing to provide the necessary web services. The only solution then was to integrate it into one component. This had to be done by transferring all the information on a mainframe to a single infrastructure that could handle all that tasks with ease. They tried various technologies by integrating the IBM Mainframe, Microsoft Windows operating system, J2EE, but it was a cumbersome process. The best possible result to make things work on different platforms was XML. XML web services had provided the advantages to function on multiple platforms. The first web services were successfully carried out with the implementation of XML to generate dynamic data based on the user requests for a significant cost savings updates. This was done by directing the customer requests to a web server instead of a mainframe. XML web services helped them to cut down on the IT expenditures which were a remarkable asset for the Bank. This was just the beginning when Danske Bank had to face another issue related to security. XML web services did not provide the Bank to provide the internal process details to the consumers and partners in a standardized security level. As XML was a simple language to understand, it was a threat to the Bank for disclosing the details to the users. Either they had to restrict everybody from viewing the secure information or have no restrictions based on their designation. This security issue was dealt by adapting to a newer web services technology provided by Microsoft called the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET. This technology comprised of all the features of XML along with the extended features. This technology helped Danske Bank to provide all the required details to their users based on the access restrictions and also integrated various applications on different platforms. Case Study 2: (Aeroplan, 2004) Aeroplan based in Montreal is fundamentally an air line affinity program owned by Air Canada. Consecutively for two years it has been awarded the best frequent flier program for the Official Airline Guide. Being the best it definitely has a huge number of employees which include 176 managerial employees and 1300 call center agents approximately (Mathew Schwartz, 2004). The secret of its success is to efficiently maintain the associations with 100 other companies that include a wide set of categories. Initially when Aeroplan decided to adapt a rapid expansion of partnership program, it required a secure bridge with the partners systems. This had to be carried out by exposing some of the XML services by bridging it in a secure way onto the external partners system via internet. Aeroplan basically used the XML services to enable the feature of Interoperability, but the services adapted then were not Web- enabled says Kattou, e-business architect for Aeroplan. Exposing the Xml services over the Internet was extremely vulnerable because XML did not support any sort of access restriction security levels and was easy to attack. It also was a code that could be understood by any lay man. Another issue for Aeroplan was to filter out the XML tags in order to avoid threats from its own partners. This was the issue of portable bridging that also had huge influence related to the expansion details. This issue was overcome by implementing the XML firewalls provided by Reactivity. XML firewalls then provided Aeroplan with security services such as access restrictions for partners with IP Filtering, security tokens and X.509 certificates to provide authentication and support secured transmission through SSL. Thus with the addition of Xml firewalls the security issues were addressed with ease. With this implementation Xml enabled Aeroplan to provide excellent web-services to their partners by providing dynamic information pertaining to their customers and external clients. With the help of interoperability and Platform independent features of XML, Aeroplan could carry out its expansion activities in a secured manner. Conclusion: The ever increasing power of human imagination when coupled with quantum leaps in technological advancements will always demand for newer and more complex solutions. XML has a few drawbacks but they are not serious issues. They only point out the lack of the designing team to develop compatible applications with XML. The case studies presented here show just a small percent of the capacities that this powerful language possesses. Its benefits have stood the test of time and the language still remains as the developer's favorite choice for a language to develop complex web solutions. References 1) Natanya Pitts-Moultis and Cheryl Kirk, 1998. XML Black Book, The Coriolis Group. 2) Steven Holzner, 2005. "Html Black Book". Comprehensive Problem Solver. Dreamtech Press, Paragylph Press. 3) Selena Sol, nd. "Advantages and Disadvantages of XML". Found at: http://www.theukwebdesigncompany.com/articles/xml-advantages-disadvantages.php 4) Chris Kinsman & Jeffrey McManus, 2002. "Guide to XML" Found at: http://www.awprofessional.com/articles/article.aspp=25855&rl=1 5) Gurpreet Kunwar, nd. "XML and XSL with ASP". Found at: http://www.4guysfromrolla.com/webtech/101600-1.shtml 6) Microsoft. Com, 2003. "Case Study: Danish Bank Uses Visual Studio .NET, Web Services to Generate New Revenue Sources". Found at: http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspxcasestudyid=51638 7) Mathew Schwartz, 2004. "Aeroplan adopts an XML Firewall". Case Study: Circumventing Web Services Security Problems. Found at: Article on security issues of Web Services at ESJ.Com. Read More