[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Terminology: Data Format versus Document Format ... and ...Extensible F
Hi Folks, In his latest blog [1] James Clark makes these distinctions: (1) A format for data versus a format for documents (2) A format that is extensible versus a format that is generalized I want to be sure that I fully understand these terms. Here's what I think they mean: ------------------------------------------- FORMAT FOR DATA VERSUS FORMAT FOR DOCUMENTS ------------------------------------------- A "format for data" is a syntax that deals exclusively with fully structured data. A "format for documents" is a syntax that deals with both fully structured data and semi-structured data (mixed content). Example: - JSON is a format for data. - XML (and Micro XML) is a format for documents. ------------------------------------------- EXTENSIBLE FORMAT VERSUS GENERALIZED FORMAT ------------------------------------------- A format is "extensible" if it is a markup language which allows new markup (elements and attributes) to be added to the language. A format is "generalized" if it is a markup language which does not have predefined tag names with built-in semantics. A format that is generalized is a meta markup language. Example: - HTML is extensible but not generalized. - XML (and Meta XML) is both extensible and generalized. Is my understanding correct? Do the above definitions completely and correctly capture the distinctions? /Roger [1] http://blog.jclark.com/2010/12/more-on-microxml.html [Date Prev] | [Thread Prev] | [Thread Next] | [Date Next] -- [Date Index] | [Thread Index] |
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