XML

[teash]

I just read that Microsoft will be using XML instead of .doc in there latest and greatest Office 2006.

I have heard lots of hype about it, I read through "introduction" guides on the net, and read some posts at this site.

I still don't know if I should bother learning it or not.
I mean there is literally a 100 different things I could learn in more detail.

I've 1 more class to go (algorthm analysis) before I get my B.S. in Comp Sci.

I know the basics of several languages that I code in, HTML, PHP, Javascipt, VBscript, CSS, ASP, blah blah...

I am currently (and probably for the next few years) working at a small (8 person) company as their computer guy. We run legacy software/equipment (because it gets the job done easily, and affordably)....

Most of our scripts are written javascript, and vbscript... basically ASP. (Not .NET) and our databases are all MS Access. They are small on average maybe 1000 records or so.

Now the question.

Will XML help me in any form? Should I invest time into it?
I am irritated by the fact that I use PHP at home for my personal website but at work I am stuck with ASP. (which i kind of like)... and the code I write and home and work cannot be reused. (but that's beside the point).

Will XML save time/code? We don't have cross platform systems or anything like that. I don't need to share data with other systems really.

Is there anything else XML can do for me that other scripting languages can't?

Sorry for the babble, just curious.

Tim












I really don't know what I am talking about, I just talk!

 

[TJRTech]

If you know HTML, the Hypertext Markup Language, than learning XML isn't that different as much of the foundational markup language knowledge carries forward.

XML will be used more and more, and has become the standard information interchange format for most applications today.

XML is not a scripting language, in that you can't PROGRAM with XML. It's a markup language and used to describe information. XML does have a sister language, and it is called XSL, short for eXtensile Stylesheet Language, and that, along with XLST (XSL-Transforms) provide a programming language for transforming XML documents from one format to another. XSL(T) is good to learn as a web developer.

TJR

 

[tsdragon]

Why not take a browse thru the XML forum and see if you find any answers to your questions: Forum426

I learned a lot about XML and it's capabilities and uses just by browsing there.



Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[Sheco]

Think of XML as a method to describe data in the same way that HTML is a method to describe the layout of a web page.

Suppose you have 4 rows in a database that you need to send to me. We could talk and agree that you will send me a text file. That a comma will separate each field in a row... and that each row will be separated by a carriage return + linefeed. Or we could agree that each field is 10 characters long. We could agree on anything but, the point is, we have to agree on SOMETHING. So maybe you would send me a file that looks like this:

Ronald,Reagan,Wilson,2
George,Bush,Herbert Walker,1
William,Clinton,Jefferson,2
George,Bush,Walker,2

Or perhaps like this:

Ronald    ,Reagan    ,Wilson         ,2
George    ,Bush      ,Herbert Walker ,1
William   ,Clinton   ,Jefferson      ,2
George    ,Bush      ,Walker         ,2

Anyway, you can think of XML as a method to facilitate these data exchange agreements. In XML, those 4 rows might instead looks like this:

<Exported Data>
  <row>
    <FirstName>Ronald</FirstName>
    <LastName>Reagan</LastName>
    <MiddleName>Wilson</MiddleName>
    <Terms>2</Terms>
  </row>
  <row>
    <FirstName>George</FirstName>
    <LastName>Bush</LastName>
    <MiddleName>Herbert Walker</MiddleName>
    <Terms>1</Terms>
  </row>
  <row>
    <FirstName>William</FirstName>
    <LastName>Clinton</LastName>
    <MiddleName>Jefferson</MiddleName>
    <Terms>2</Terms>
  </row>
  <row>
    <FirstName>George</FirstName>
    <LastName>Bush</LastName>
    <MiddleName>Walker</MiddleName>
    <Terms>2</Terms>
  </row>
</Exported Data>

One big advantage of using XML is that a rather generic parsing engine can be used... and the engine makes it a snap to change the field layout later. If you've ever written your own file parser you know how much of a time consuming pain it can be to change fields.

Another advantage is it easy for a person to read even if you were not part of the original discussions about the layout.

The downside is that it is very bulky… But remember, disk space and bandwidth are a LOT cheaper than they used to be! Nowadays the limiting expense may very well be the hourly cost of skilled professionals so you can see the benefits of methods that reduce the time required to agree on a format. Especially when that format is easier to read because it is basically self-documenting. Especially when you can use someone else’s paring program and that parser has built in functionality to allow fields to be change in a minimum amount of time.

Something else that probably jumps out at you is that the tags used in any specific XML file will necessarily change based on the data fields it contains. You can infer from this that you can’t really "know XML" in the same way that one "knows" HTML. You can learn the ins and outs of the parser the same way you learn about the behavior of a web browser. And you can certainly memorize the tags for XML formats that you use frequently... You can even think of HTML as an XML format for exchanging hypertext page data.

Perhaps a better way to express the idea that I'm trying to explain would be that, what you really know is "how to use XML" ... but the hiring manager will frown on this kind of talk.

 

[teash]

Thank you, I read about XML before I posted and I understood how it works, I just don't see a point in it right now and that's what I was searching for.

Sheco mentioned file parsing, I see how XML would come in handy there but chances are I won't be doing that any time soon.

The XML group is full of questions on how to fix things, but I didn't find anything that says "here, this is my current real world application for it, see how great it is".

But, thanks for the time.
Tim




I really don't know what I am talking about, I just talk!

 

[nicklieb]

I use XML regularly for integration with customers. The company i work for repairs technology, we use xml for all the pre-alerts,ie. notification of an inbound unit.

I've also just perfected a UPS integration, of being able to generate the labels you put onto the boxes. The uses XML too. Initialy the take up of the XML was slow, but now there more and more companies adopting this method of data transfer, it's far cheaper that say EDI, which you have to pay to setup, pay to transmit each time.