Chapter 1. Introducing XML

Working groups within the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) started developing eXtensible Markup Language (XML) in 1996. Their goal was simple: develop a version of the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) that could be used efficiently on the Web, and this is exactly what was done. By November 1996, the W3C working groups had drafted a document that outlined XML’s basic structure and functionality. Throughout 1997, the W3C and its member groups continued to develop and expand XML. XML got a lot of praise in certain circles, especially within the SGML community. However, few people in the mainstream knew much about XML—and mainstream awareness is what XML needed to really take off.

That all began to change around the time XML was formalized as a proposed recommendation. By this time it was December 1997 and XML was being used as the basis of many technologies. These applications of XML helped make the technology less abstract and more real. Suddenly lots of people were starting to take a closer look at XML. Before you knew it, XML had a very public—and enthusiastic—following. More and more books about XML started to appear on bookstore shelves. A buzz began to build. People started to wonder what XML was all about, and they had many questions. They wanted to know how XML would affect the Web and whether XML would replace Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). They wanted to know how XML worked and, more importantly, what XML could do for them.