Electronic dissertations library

Electronic Dissertations Library

XML: the future of web markup?, by Elliot Pritchard

CONCLUSION

XML, as can be seen in the tutorial, is a clear and well-formulated markup language. I have discussed its benefits and decided that they outweigh the drawbacks. It is those benefits that will be key in persuading people to adopt it. In that sense we can say that XML will indeed play an important role in the future of web markup. It seems unlikely, however, that it will be the sole future of web markup. XML may be a clear and concisely-formulated language, but XSL by comparison is not. And while XLink and XPointer do allow more sophisticated linking, they may well be crammed with too many functions to find favour. In particular, the function which allows you to annotate someone else's web-site could have worrying consequences. The real question that we should be asking, as I mentioned in one of the articles, is: how many people are likely to use XML? At the moment any answer to this is speculative.

It does, however, seem that XML is suited to some needs more than others. I expect that it will garner more corporate use than personal use. I also expect that within the corporate sphere it is more likely to be used for web-sites that have clearly-recognisable information structures. On-line databases of information and on-line forms are two obvious examples. Also, as previously mentioned, companies with information coded in SGML are likely to embrace it. It is not just the fact that it is being used that we must keep our eyes out for, but also the way in which it is being used. If the corporate web-community can co-operate, the potential for XML is great. It is its success in that arena that will determine how widespread its use will become. As Macherius suggests, "the last word will have to come from the market."

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE STUDY

A study of the associated standards XSL, XLink and XPointer once they reach Recommendation status would be invaluable.
Once browser support is in place we will begin to see full implementation of XML on the Web. A case study, or case studies, on its application could prove extremely informative.
Softquad, makers of the popular HTML-authoring tool HoTMetaL, launched an XML equivalent, XMetaL, in May. This is just one of an increasing number of XML tools on the market that could be studied and reviewed.
The way that this site is programmed to give two different forms of access to the same information could potentially be done by a combination of XML and XSL. An implementation such as this would be a good test of their functionality.

Title Page Bibliography