Section 3.2. XML Side-story

3.2. XML Side-story

The Extensible Markup Language (XML) was developed in response to fears in the 1990s that software developers would run out of acronyms by the year 2010.

3.2.1. How it works

To solve the problem, XML provides a standard for namespaces , whereby the letters in an acronym could be arbitrarily assigned to any letter in a spelled-out word. Thus, Extensible Markup Language became "XML", not "EML", which was already trademarked by a gangsta rap artist.

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Note: Acronyms are what separate us from the apes.

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Furthermore, namespaces allow hierarchical lists of acronyms to be built without collisionsXML includes XSLT (Extensible Style Sheet Transformation Language, or E-S-S-T-L, really), XSD (Extensible Markup Language Schema Definition Language, or E-M-L-S-D-L), XPath (Extensible Markup Language Path Language, or E-M-L-P-L), SAX (Simple Application Programming Interface for Extensible Markup Language Processing, or S-A-P-I-E-M-L-P), JAX (Java Application Programming Interface for Extensible Markup Language Processing, or J-A-P-I-E-M-L-P), and XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language, E-H-M-L which is easier to say than X-H-T-M-L).

Besides, everyone at the W3C agreed that adding "X" to anything makes it cool like Vin Diesel.

So what is XML really? All this hoo-ha is about two things: thing one is "<"; thing two is ">". By putting < > around everything, you make it vastly harder to type thereby raising the bar for programmers and decreasing the likelihood that ou tr jobs will be exportedo Kuala Lumpur. < See^? > < how /> < much /> < harder /> < this /> < is /> < to /> < say /> </ See^? >

Not only that, but XML makes everything case-sensitive. Studies at IBM in the 1970s showed that processors became constipated if they received too much uppercase text and that they developed the opposite problem if their input was exclusively lowercase. XML ensures the right mix of textual roughage and starch for smooth processing and regular output.

Does XML do anything else? No, XML is not about doing anything. It's a standard and, as such, it is a vehicle for other thingsattending symposiums, for instance.

3.2.2. What about...

To learn how to	Look here
Drive like Vin Diesel	www.toyota-supra.com
Read your rap sheet in XML after driving like Vin Diesel	it.ojp.gov/jsr/public/viewDetail. jsp?sub_id=177
Party like the W3C	www.w3.org