Reading Notes 7

Reading Notes for 11/08

Intoducing the Extensible Markup Language
It seems that the benefit of XML versus HTML is that it builds a more defined structure within documents to ensure that they're always processed and displayed as intended. It's interesting how everything is built around entities and attributes, much like a database, which is also used to provide information with a specific, human-readable structure. I guess the system is partly designed to make XML tagged info documents easily sorted by a given database without eliminating the ability to view it in its original structure.

A Survey of XML Standards
By adding XML Namespaces with vocabulary markers it seems the language makes it possible for you to embed segments in other markup languages within an XML document. Does this increase the flexibility of the types of documents XML could be applied to? Still not sure that I understand the difference between URIs and URLs or what a parsed or unparsed character is. I also didn't know XML can make it possible to build links with multiple destination points, or two-way hypertext links, but that would be a very desirable utility.

Extending Your Markup
The interoperability between Document Type Definitions and XML Namespaces seems like it would make the use of Namespaces a lot more complicated. This is what they're trying to alleviate with a standard XML Schema, but with all that is being accomplished with further refinement of the XML language, it seems like getting everyone to agree on and adopt the same standards is an issue that is hindering the language from reaching its full potential.

XML Schema Tutorial
The adoption of a specific XML Schema over the use of DTDs will enhance the utility of XML, but will it make XML more adaptable to new technology and document-type developments? It seems that like markup languages before it, it operates on a fairly stringent set of definition limitations, and if it isn't more adaptable then gradually everyone will move on again to the whatever is more currently suited to their needs. What happens when content is created that is outside of the definition of allowable document content?