XMLformaat

XMLformaat is a markup language used for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. It stands for Extensible Markup Language. XML is designed to store and transport data, not to display data. Its primary purpose is to define a set of rules for encoding documents in a way that is both structured and self-descriptive.

The core principle of XML is its extensibility. Users can define their own tags and attributes, creating custom markup languages tailored to specific needs. This allows for a great deal of flexibility in structuring information. An XML document consists of elements, which are delimited by tags. These tags are typically enclosed in angle brackets, such as `<tagname>`. Elements can contain text, other elements, or be empty. Attributes provide additional information about an element and are specified within the start tag.

XML's structure is hierarchical, resembling a tree. Each XML document must have a single root element that contains all other elements. This structured nature makes it easy for computers to parse and process XML data. XML is widely used in web services, data exchange between different systems, configuration files, and content management. Its widespread adoption is due to its simplicity, flexibility, and platform independence. While not directly used for presentation like HTML, XML can be transformed into other formats, such as HTML, for display purposes using technologies like XSLT.