Why Use XML?

Extensible Markup Language (XML) has its place, but because of a lot of hype it is many times used to do things it was not intended to do. The misuse of XML is particularly prevalent when it comes to Business-To-Business (B2B) eCommerce. Below are reasons to use XML.

Why XML Was Invented. XML was originally developed to make web page development easier by providing a base language to separate, store, and integrate data content into Hypertext Markup Language (html) formatted web pages.

Why Use XML?

Why Use XML? – Display Dynamic Data. XML is great for integrating dynamic data into a web page. If the data changes a lot on a web page, use XML to display it within an html document. Example: news headlines.

Why Use XML? – Simplifies Data Sharing. XML makes it easy to share data with numerous applications and on multiple web pages across the internet. Many internet widgets use an XML-based language such as Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to display content on countless desktops and web pages. Note: XML is best for a raw data feed on a web page. XML is usually not the best choice if the data is just to be shared and processed between two systems.

Why Use XML? – Simplifies Data Transport. Because XML uses a simple, universal format, data can be transported easily between two incompatible systems or applications. Note: Because XML is a very verbose data format, it is not usually the best choice for passing electronic documents between two business systems.

Why Use XML? – Simplifies System Upgrades. Because XML is normally stored in text format, it is much easier to upgrade and replace systems, browsers, and applications. Note: Because XML has a verbose data format, it is not the best storage format in terms of maximizing disk space.

Tags: XML

This entry was posted on Friday, September 4th, 2009 at 3:41 pm and is filed under Electronic Cash News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

royhayward

You are right on the hype part here. (actually this is another good overview of technology)

I worked for a company a few years back that pushed lots of resources and money and time into developing an XML supply chain solution. Because XML was a hot buzz word, they planned that adopting this would make integrations with new partners fast and easy, and that they would be a more attractive trading partner. (kind of sounds like my teenager)

Well we spend the time and the money, and for a long time we had only one adopter of the XML. (of course they adopted the XML and then converted it back into EDI for their internal system to use.) And they were the most problematic of our partners. After only supporting them for three years, we finally started to see a trickle of new XML integrations. All of them small players that had new processes that came with XML.

The moral of this story is in support of your opening paragraph that states, "The misuse of XML is particularly prevalent when it comes to Business-To-Business (B2B) eCommerce." I have certainly seen this first hand.

When you have to use XML, it is important to start with the basics. I have a post about the basics at http://www.theintegrationengin... if you are looking for a place to start understanding what XML is all about.