Overview
XML is a language for storing and transporting data. It is powerful because it knows what the data it is transmitting is. Each piece of data is labeled as to what it is which make it perfect for transmitting data from one application to another. The data is pulled out of a database at one business and can be transmitted to another business using a different database or application and that application can read the data and it knows what the data is. For instance a list of data [athens, 30605, ga, 706] does not mean much if you don't know what it is. XML requires every piece of data to be labeled. So that same data would be sent with a label [athens (city), 30605 (zip), ga (state), 706 (area code)]. That is not the right syntax of XML but you get the point. Each piece of data has another piece of data that describes what it is.
Uses
There are many business applications. Most businesses today have databases that store information about their customers and their inventory among other things. A typical database does not display infomation in a visually appealing manor nor is one database used across all businesses. XML solves both of these problems. It first is a medium for data exchange. Data from one company's MySQL database can be sent to another company's Microsoft SQL database and another company's Oracle database. In much the same way XML also serves as a medium in which the data can be stored in one place but displayed in different ways depending on how the client wants to access it. For instance this data can be displayed in a simple list in a web page or it can be organized into a complex table and color coded and converted into a pdf file. This allows for there to be a distinct difference between the data layer and the presentation layer.
Required Files
.xml - where data is stored
.xsd - where data types are defined
.xsl - where presentation of data is described
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