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HTML vs. XML: What is the difference?

Many people think XML is just a way to add tags to HTML? This assumption is incorrect.
The following mantras were repeated at the XML conference held in Seattle in the Spring of 1998:
  1. HTML is display.
  2. XML is content.
  3. XML is not HTML.
XML is a subset of SGML . XML is SGML made simpler and more accessible. It is sometimes referred to as "SGML Lite." As such, XML qualifies as a meta-language and can be used to write other languages. XML provides users with the ability to define their own set of markup tags— to write their own version of HTML, so to speak.

Why Markup Languages Are So Popular

  1. SGML: The Standard Generalized Markup Language is a system for organizing and tagging elements of a document.
    SGML was developed and standardized by the International Organization for Standards in 1986. SGML itself does not specify any particular formatting; rather, it specifies the rules for tagging elements. These tags can then be interpreted to format elements in different ways.
  2. Meta-language: A language for defining the rules for other languages. XML is an example of a meta-language designed to define the rules for creating other mark-up languages.
(SGML) Standard Generalized Markup Language is a standard for how to specify a document markup language or tag set. Such a specification is itself a (DTD) document type definition . SGML is not in itself a document language, but a description of how to specify one and is metadata.