XML, XSL, DTD’s And Other Abbreviations I Don’t Know
Abbreviations are all over the place when dealing with computers. You are probably wondering what XML, XSL, DTD and the rest of these abbreviations mean. Let’s have a quick rundown of some of them.
XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language. It is a way of describing information in human-readable form. You can describe any information with it by use of tags. It is called a markup language because you wrap text (or other information) with keywords that computer applications interpret.
To make sure XML correctly describes the intended information, a DTD, or Document Type Definition is used. DTD’s are referenced from inside the XML. DTD’s are read by applications that use XML. If XML is driving, a DTD is the rule book we use to drive safely.
DTD’s tell applications what is good data. XSL, on the other hand, helps define how XML should look to someone who wants to look at the XML directly. For example, if you were to click a link to an XML file on the web in a web browser, the DTD helps the browser know the XML is correct. Then, the browser looks at any XSL associated with the XML (an XSLT file). So raw XML turns into a web page, a menu, or nearly anything else.
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