XML is pretty standardized, but the implementation of it in various web
browsers isn't.
I wouldn't consider XML all that comparable to HTML. They don't serve the
same purpose. XML is generally used to order and describe data (metadata,
basically), and although HTML serves roughly the same purpose, HTML is much
more focused in what it provides -- HTML is meant to be rendered in a web
browser, while XML's use is really undefined. You can use XML for
server-to-server communications, peer-to-peer stuff, messaging, document
descriptions, and pretty much any generalized markup. HTML really isn't
designed for that sort of stuff.
As for "freestyle", XML's syntax is much less open to interpretation than
HTML's. XML is much more rigid -- forget a closing tag and your document
becomes invalid. Screw up the order of your elements and it's invalid. If
you forget a closing tag in HTML, you can be forgiven, but in XML, you're
toast. Even linebreak elements in XML need closing tags.
It doesn't really matter how IE and Netscape or any other browser renders
XML. That's what XSL is for -- transforming XML into HTML before it is sent
to the client. (Alternatively, the XML could be sent directly to the client
and then doing the transformation client-side.
As for XML scripting engines, again, XML is just markup, it isn't really a
scripting engine. There is a bit of scripting-like looping structures and
logic that can be used in XSL, but it's nowhere near the level of PHP, ASP,
Perl, etc. Apache's Cocoon XML/XSL system does have a programming system
built in called XSP (eXtensible Server Pages), which is basically takes
Java embedded into XML or XSL and compiles it all as one big Java class.
(You can add different languages to XSP, but it isn't fun. The next version
will have "producers" that can create XML from scripting/compiled
languages, including PHP.)
I've mixed PHP and XML (with XSLT) on my current project quite nicely. I
started with Cocoon and XSP, but as Sablotron and PHP's XSLT extensions
became more stable, I started using them rather than combining both Cocoon
and PHP.
J
Elias Santiago wrote:
> He MAY be right, may not. XML is just not so standardized (if in doubt
> look how IE and Netscape each implement it "their way") I consider XML
> like
> "freestyle HTML". I know this technology has great potential but if
> developers don't decide on how to standardize it, it could die young. PHP
> however (as an avid follower) is on a "fast track" and even Microsoft
> considers it a strong contender to ASP. However, both PHP and XML
> technologies are just scripting engines. Products like the Zend engine
> are just starting to scratch the surface for truly dynamic, cached,
> real-time
> web applications. I'm not saying that either PHP or XML (or any other
> technology that comes along) is going to die or leave the other "in the
> dust" but look what has happened with Java, it has certainly lost
> momentum.
>
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