15.2. XML Basics

XML permits document authors to create markup (i.e., a text-based notation for describing data) for virtually any type of information, enabling them to create entirely new markup languages for describing any type of data, such as mathematical formulas, software-configuration instructions, chemical molecular structures, music, news, recipes and financial reports. XML describes data in a way that human beings can understand and computers can process.

Figure 15.1 is a simple XML document that describes information for a baseball player. We focus on lines 5–9 to introduce basic XML syntax. You’ll learn about the other elements of this document in Section 15.3.

---

 1   <?xml version = "1.0"?>
 2
 3   <!-- Fig. 15.1: player.xml -->
 4   <!-- Baseball player structured with XML -->
 5   <player>
 6      <firstName>John</firstName>
 7      <lastName>Doe</lastName>
 8      <battingAverage>0.375</battingAverage>
 9   </player>