XML: Is It The Answer To Everything?

By Kay Ethier and Scott Abel. Originally published in the inaugural issue of Free Software Magazine

Everywhere you turn these days, someone is talking Extensible Markup Language (XML). Jump into a discussion about publishing - XML is touted as a means of exchanging information. Talk with someone about the new software tool she is creating - she describes setting up some of her actions in XML. Ask a webmaster what he�s been doing - he raves about the dynamic content he�s serving up to site visitors using XML from a database. In short, XML is a great solution to a wide variety of challenges, and it seems to be everywhere. But is it the cure for every data or content challenge? The simple answer is, no.

This article weighs the pros and cons of XML for some applications (publishing), and explores why it is the best possible solution for many programming and publishing needs.

Filed under: IT Marketing : XML