XML stands for Extensible Markup Language, and it is a markup language used to store and exchange data in a structured format. It was designed to be both human-readable and machine-readable, making it a popular choice for data interchange between different systems and platforms.
XML uses tags to define elements, which can contain data or other nested elements. Tags are enclosed in angle brackets (“<” and “>”), and elements can have attributes in the form of name-value pairs within the tags. XML documents are hierarchical, with a single root element that contains all other elements.
XML is a flexible and extensible language, allowing users to define their own tags and elements based on their specific requirements. This makes it highly adaptable for different use cases and industries, such as web development, data exchange between different systems, configuration files, and more.
One of the key features of XML is its ability to define data structures using Document Type Definitions (DTDs) or XML Schemas, which provide a way to validate XML documents and ensure they conform to a specified structure or format. This helps in ensuring data integrity and consistency when exchanging data between different systems.
XML is widely used in various applications and technologies, including web services, APIs, data exchange, configuration files, document markup, and more. However, in recent years, other data interchange formats such as JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) have gained popularity due to their simplicity and ease of use, particularly in the context of web development and APIs. Nonetheless, XML remains a widely used and important markup language in many domains.