A digital marketer must know about XML and HTML, their definitions and differences. This article will help you explain the differences between XML and HTML that you must know. XML and HTML are two markup formats that are often used in web development.
Although both are used to explain the data structure on a website, there are significant differences between the two. Here is a brief explanation of the differences between XML and HTML that you must know. However, before you learn more, here is an explanation of the basic understanding of XML and HTML.
XML and HTML are markup languages defined for different purposes and have several differences. HTML was designed to facilitate the transfer of web-based documents or formatted displays of data. While XML is more to the structure and context. XML and HTML complement each other and have different functions. In this article, we will discuss the differences between HTML and XML.
What is HTML and explain it?
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| HTML vs XML |
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is used to create web pages and web applications. It is a computer language used to apply layout and formatting conventions to text documents. Markup languages make text more interactive and dynamic. HTML can turn text into images, tables, links, etc.
You need to learn HTML to create your own static website pages with HTML. It is used to display data and not to transport data. Hypertext defines links between web pages. Markup languages are used to define text documents inside tags that define the structure of web pages.
<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title>Welcome to Edureka</title></head><body><h1>Web Development</h1><p>HTML vs XML</p></body></html>
1. What is advantage in HTML?
HTML Helps you in building a website structure. There are many more advantages such as:
- The HTML document browser interface is easy to create.
- HTML works for unrelated systems too.
- HTML is easy to understand and has a very simple syntax.
- You can use different tags to create your web page.
- This allows you to use different colors, objects and layouts.
2. What are the weaknesses of HTML?
Here, some disadvantages of using HTML:
- HTML lacks syntax and structure checking
- HTML is not suitable for data exchange
- HTML does not allow describing the informational content or semantics of documents
- HTML is not object oriented, so it is not an extensible language and is very unstable
- Data storage and data exchange is not possible using HTML.
What is XML and why is it used?
XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is also used to create web pages and web applications. But it is a dynamic language used to transport data and not to display data. The design goals of XML focus on simplicity, generality, and usability on the Internet.
XML is a textual data format with strong support via Unicode for many human languages. XML design usually focuses on documents. But this language is mostly used for arbitrary representation of data structures like those used in web services.
<?xml version = "1.0"?><contactinfo><address category = "office"><name>eLearning</name><Office>Edureka</Office><empid>112340</empid></address></contactinfo>
1. What are the advantages of XML?
Just like any other programming or markup language, XML has its own advantages and disadvantages that need to be considered. The advantages and disadvantages of XML are as follows:
a. Human Readability
Because XML is a markup language with a simple text format. Developers and machines can easily read and understand it.
It is a common choice for configuration files and data exchange between systems, where human interaction may be required because it is human-readable.
b. Platform and Language Independence
XML is not dependent on a particular platform or programming language. However, XML can be customized for data exchange between many technologies and works with various computer systems and languages.
c. Structured Data
XML requires data to have a hierarchical structure. This is ideal for displaying complex data structures.
d. Self-Descriptive
XML documents are self-descriptive documents, because they can provide metadata about the content they contain. With this metadata, the structure and meaning of the data can be better understood by developers and applications.
e. Validation
The structure and content of XML documents can be checked using Document Type Definitions (DTDs) or XML Schemas, both of which are defined by XML. Thus, data consistency and integrity are guaranteed.
f. Standardization
XML format is widely used to standardize the process, creation, and modification of XML data, various libraries, programs, and APIs.
Some of the Advantages of XML include:
- XML makes documents transportable across systems and applications.
- You can also quickly exchange data between different platforms.
- XML separates data from HTML.
- This simplifies the platform change process.
2. What are the disadvantages of XML?
a. Verbose
XML documents tend to be verbose, especially when describing complex data structures. When compared to JSON or other simpler formats, this verbosity can result in larger file sizes.
b. Parsing Overhead
Because tags and attributes must be processed and interpreted, parsing XML documents can be computationally expensive, especially for large texts.
c. Lack of Support for More Advanced Data Types
While XML can represent complex data structures, it lacks native support for more advanced data types, such as dates, binary data, and mathematical expressions. This can make encoding and decoding such data more difficult.
d. Redundant Information
XML documents often contain redundant information, such as repeated element names and attributes. This redundant information makes the document larger and less effective for data transport.
e. Complexity
Because XML allows for the definition of custom structures, it can produce complex schemas and documents that are difficult to understand, especially for beginners.
f. Limited Support
Developers and document authors are responsible for defining and following metadata conventions. XML, on the other hand, is very limited in terms of usage information.
g. Alternative Formats
XML now faces competition from shorter and more efficient data transfer formats, such as JSON and Protocol Buffers. These solutions may be more appropriate depending on the usage situation.
Here, some disadvantages of using XML:
- XML requires processing applications
- The XML syntax is so similar to other alternative 'text-based' data transmission formats that it can sometimes be confusing
- No intrinsic data type support
- Redundant XML syntax
- Does not allow users to create their tags.
What are the differences between XML and HTML?
Hypertext Markup Language or HTML and Extensible Markup Language or XML are markup languages that can be used to organize and present information on the web. However, both have different functions and syntax..
Here are some differences between XML and HTML that you should know, the differences between XML and HTML such as:
1. Purpose
The first difference between XML and HTML is seen from its purpose. The purpose of XML is to store and transmit data, while HTML is used to create interactive web pages.
2. Structure and Tags
The next difference between XML and HTML is from the structure and tags. So, XML has a more flexible structure compared to HTML. Where XML allows web developers to create their own tags and structures, while HTML has a predetermined and limited structure.
In the XML example, you can see that the tags. for example, <bookstore>, <book>, <title>, are defined by the user and are used to structure the data. There are no rendering or styling issues in XML.
Unlike HTML, where tags, such as, <html>, <head>, <body>, <h1>, are predefined and used to create a web page with content and structure. HTML is mostly concerned with the presentation of content in the browser. This is the main difference between XML and HTML. Although both are markup languages, XML and HTML serve different purposes in web development and data structure.
3. Attributes
The next difference between XML and HTML is in the attributes, where XML can have more structured and more clearly defined attributes. While HTML has attributes that are more focused on their function and usefulness in the display of web pages.
4. Processing
Other differences between XML and HTML are seen from their processing. To process XML, you need a parser that will read the XML structure and produce output according to the instructions in the XML document. While HTML, you only need to be rendered by the browser, so no parser is needed.
5. Compatibility
The last difference between XML and HTML is in their compatibility. Where XML allows data interaction between different applications, while HTML is more focused on a display that is suitable for browsers.
From the explanation above, XML and HTML have significant differences. XML is more focused on storing and exchanging structured data, while HTML is more focused on the visual appearance of web pages in browsers.
In addition, XML also has a more flexible structure and can be defined by the developer. While HTML has a predetermined and limited structure. XML also uses a parser to process data, while HTML only needs to be rendered by the browser.
Because of these differences, users must choose the right markup format according to the needs of your web development. There are different parameters to compare the differences between HTML and XML. Let's take a look at the list of parameters and the differences between the two languages:
- XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language while HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language.
- XML focuses on transferring data whereas HTML is focused on presenting data.
- XML is content driven whereas HTML is format driven.
- XML is Case Sensitive while XML is Case Insensitive
- XML provides namespaces support while HTML does not provide namespaces support.
- XML is strict for closing tags while HTML is not strict.
- XML tags are extensible whereas HTML has limited tags.
- XML tags are not predefined whereas HTML has predefined tags.
Conclusion
What is XML? XML is a markup language that offers guidelines for defining any type of data. The XML language allows you to define and store data in a way that can be shared.
XML supports the exchange of information between computer systems, such as websites, databases, and third-party applications. Predefined rules make it easy to send data as XML files over any network because the recipient can use the rules to read the data accurately and efficiently.
XML is a markup language with several aspects to consider when starting to learn it. One of them is the language structure, such as, <bookstore>, <book>, <title>, and many more.
So, that was a complete discussion about the differences between HTML and XML. Hopefully, after reading this article, you can understand the purpose of each HTML and XML created and the differences. Thank you for following us to the end.
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