XML stands for extensible markup language. A markup language is a set of codes, or tags, that describes the text in a digital document. The most famous markup language is hypertext markup language HTML , which is used to format Web pages. In other words, XML is concerned with how information is organized, not how it is displayed. XML formatting is done through separate style sheets. The HTML tags are fixed; every site developer uses the same tags to do the same things.
XML, by contrast, lets you create your own tags to label the meaning or use of data. It lets you transfer data among corporate databases and Web sites without losing crucial descriptive information.
It lets you automatically customize the presentation of data rather than display the same page to all comers. XML also makes it easier to expand or upgrade to new operating systems, new applications, or new browsers, without losing data. With XML, data can be available to all kinds of "reading machines" like people, computers, voice machines, news feeds, etc.
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XML by itself was an important step forward in developing a robust data object specification that is rigorously defined yet adaptable to nearly all imaginable use cases. There are other data object formats: some are proprietary and thus render data unusable when the associated software becomes extinct; while others are also plain text but lack the expressiveness required of a complete solution, or lack the robustness required to maintain data integrity.
Why XML? Because XML can represent every data structure, has a complete and comprehensive open specification, will still be in use hundreds of years from now, and is supported by toolsets in myriad languages.
When interoperability and longevity are concerns, XML is the best choice.
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