XML

Creating XML Documents

Similar to HTML, XML is a technology that is best understood by working with it. I could go on and on for pages about the philosophical ramifications of XML, but in the end I'm sure you just want to know what you can do with it. Most of your XML work will consist of developing XML documents, which are sort of like HTML web pages, at least in terms of how the code is generally structured.

Keep in mind, however, that XML documents can be used to store any kind of information. After you've created an XML document, you will no doubt want to see how it appears in a web browser or how it is used in a functioning application. Because there is no standard approach to viewing an XML document according to its meaning, you must either find or develop a custom application for viewing the document or use a style sheet to view the document in a web browser. This tutorial uses the latter approach to provide a simple view of an XML document that you create.

In this tutorial, you'll learn

  • The basics of XML
  • How to select an XML editor
  • How to create XML documents
  • How to view XML documents