alphaWorks offers numerous XML technologies in a variety of categories in order to help you get started. In addition, demos, discussion forums, and resources allow you to interact with creators of the technology and the broader user community.
1. What is XML?
Extensible Markup Language, or XML, provides a way to mark up content that adds information about its purpose. With the information stored using XML, an application known as a parser can reliably extract the relevant information and process it accordingly for multiple situations.
2. Getting started with emerging XML technology
Emerging XML technologies are available in the following categories on alphaWorks:
- Database - XML opens the door to a new generation of databases: object databases that can manage heterogeneous, non-tabular information. Relational databases manage a subset of XML, but XML is more general.
- DTDs - The XML Document Type Definition (DTD) defines the constraints on a specific class of XML documents. It is used by the XML parser to validate and interpret individual XML documents.
- Editors - XML is optimized for creating, editing, and viewing documents, DTDs, and schemas used for communication between applications.
- Formatters - Formatters take raw data from a variety of applications and convert it to XML.
- Parsers - XML Parsers take tagged text and compile it into a structure that software written in C, Java, or a scripting language can walk through and operate on in some way.
- Programming – These applications aid in manual creation of XML documents or XML related code.
- Servers – These are repositories or application servers specifically for XML-related data.
Utilities - This large collection of tools is useful for creating XML applications.
- XSL - XSL is an application of XML and, therefore, lives by XML's rules. XSL declaratively defines how to transform an XML document into another XML document. To display the document, you create your HTML document as an XML document that follows the XML rules (such as using case-sensitive tag names, closing the empty tags, etc.). The XSL is specified in your document by including the XSL namespace in the document.
3. How can I improve my XML skills?
If you’re new to XML, get started with these alphaWorks technologies, which serve as a good aid in the development of XML applications: IBM Reflexive User Interface Builder, an application that constructs and renders GUIs for Java Swing and Eclipse Standard Widget Toolkit; Design Pattern Toolkit, an Eclipse-enabled tool for generating applications based on customizable, model-driven architecture patterns; and Views for XML, a mechanism for defining and querying views on native XML data.
In addition, the developerWorks XML zone offers a wealth of resources on XML, such as articles, tutorials, and tips. Browse through the numerous new XML technologies or search for an XML topic to find a technology of interest to you. You can also join the discussion about any alphaWorks technology to learn more. And let us know what you think; your feedback is important to us is shaping the alphaWorks site and what we bring you.
 |
 |
 |
