Web Technology. Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) - Assignment Example

work: Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) Introduction Extensible Mark-up Language or XML has been helping web developers' suit their personal and business needs (W3C, 2006). XML provides new avenues of electronic communications between human and machines. It has been known as the "lowest-common-denominator" for other systems can use. In this coursework, XML technology will be employed with a personal web application that requires visitors of this web site to input personal details for future retrieval or access. This data can now be stored in XML schema where it can be accessed for user validation. Appropriate form will be used in the web application for the data entry for storing and login functions. The web application will allow visitors view on-going information of the developer and its working projects. The web site will make use of images, video, and audio appropriately. Table of Contents Introduction .. 1 I. Overview XML 3 a.) History . 3 b.) Example Use 3 II. Advantages of XML . 4 III. Disadvantages of XML ....................................................................... 4 III. Conclusion .. 5 IV. Web Application Storyboard .. 6 V. Reference . 7 Overview of XML History SGML and HTML, the predecessor of XML, had some inadequacy to meet web developer's needs for markup languages requirements (Wikipedia, 2006). SGML, the international standard for marking up data has been providing semantic markup the need for useful cataloging and indexing of data. SGML can create unlimited markup languages like XML does that can host other resources as well. However, HTML is simple and supports at a wide range. This is originally designed by CERN around 1990 with the aim of providing simple version of SGML. HTML reached a numerous programmers. XML now evolved functioning similar to SGML. The W3C approved XML version 1.0 specification and now serves as a new language. Example: (Sol, 2004) Gunther Birznieks 001 Bob's Fish Store gunther@bobsfishstore.com 662-9999 1234 4th St. New York New York Zip: 10024 Advantages of XML a.) Breaking Tag Monopoly. The powerful characteristic of XML is that it offers developers to develop personalised mark-up language. With this attribute, developers are not restricted to the set standard tags defined by other mark-up languages such as HTML offers (Sol, 2004). Developers can write set of tags in a personal pace mode. b.) Moving Beyond Format. XML allows developers define different sorts of tags of different sorts of rules representing data description and relationships based on the developer's preference (W3C, 2006) c.) Interoperable. XML has no ties with any specific system or platform. XML is free, which requires no fee for installation or setup. Developers can create XML document with their favourite text editor (Sol, 2006). d.) No need to write a parse. Object-based parsers are available in numbers. This parser will allow XML document run on every platform. XML DOM (Document Object Model) is also available. e.) Independent. Changes to your XML document will not break the parser. Developers can add, delete or modify the existing XML data structure. Disadvantages of XML a.) Repetition. Due to its flexibility, XML allows every element and attribute names for every set of data. This consumes large storage space as the document becomes lengthy. b.) Lack of browser support for end-user application. A few browser supports direct reading of XML documents. c.) Processing time and data size. As the XML document gets larger, the processing time for parsing would also increase. It shows parallel relation with its size. If the size gets large, the greater time is required in parsing the data. (Kinsman & McManus, 2006) d.) Still experimental. XML is too open which has no standardisation compared to other mark up languages. e.) External References. XML is text-based that is parsed and included on an existing application. XML parser then requires a DTD which sometimes lead to serious performance problems. Conclusion Although XML offers various advantages for data solution, it cannot be said that it has met its primetime. XML, like other mark up languages, has also its shortcomings with regards to developers' requirements and end-user needs. It certainly lacks standardisation. Web Application Storyboard References No Author (1 August 2006). XML. Retrieved 5 August 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML. W3C (22 April 2006). Extensible Mark-up Language. Retrieved 1 August, 2006, from http://www.w3.org/XML/. Sol, S. (2004). XML Advantages & Disadvantages. Retrieved 1 August, 2006, from http://www.theukwebdesigncompany.com/articles/xml-advantages-disadvantages.php Kinsman, C. and McManus, J. (2006) Using XML. Retrieved 2 August, 2006, from http://www.awprofessional.com/articles/article.aspp=25855&rl=1 Sol, S. (1999). Disadvantages of XML. Retrieved 3 August, 2006, from http://www.wdvl.com/Authoring/Languages/XML/Tutorials/Intro/disadvantages_of_xml.html No Author (No Date). XML in Brief. Retrieved 2 August 2006, from http://www.wam.umd.edu/jenfick/hw/homework3/inbrief.html Internal Revenue Services (No Date). About XML and SGML Formatted Files. Retrieved 2 August 2006, from http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/article/0,,id=97607,00.html Waldo, J. (2005). What is XML Retrieved 3 August 2006, from http://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jspthread=132646 Kyrnin, J. (2006). Who uses XML Retrieved 1 August 2006, from http://webdesign.about.com/od/xml/a/aa060401a.htm Zaharia, M. (2005). XML Overview. Retrieved 2 August 2006, from http://www.adobe.com/devnet/dreamweaver/articles/xml_overview.html Read More