Overview
XML (Extensible Markup Language) was designed to store and transport data. Unlike HTML, which is designed to display data, XML is focused on what data is. It allows users to define their own tags.
Key Features
- Self-Descriptive: The tags describe the data they contain.
- Hierarchical: Data is organized in a tree structure.
- Strict Syntax: Requires closing tags and proper nesting.
- Extensible: Users can create custom vocabularies.
Current Status
While JSON has largely replaced XML for web APIs, XML is still widely used in configuration files, document formats (like SVG and Office docs), and legacy systems.