The holy grail of interoperability ... maybe.

What the heck is XML, the eXtensible Markup Language?

• Why XML? ~ The always readable and intelligent Simon St. Laurent wrote this nice introduction to XML.
• An XML Primer ~ "This document is an introduction to XML targeted to a 'hardy user'; an experienced web user or developer. It is the document I would have used to learn XML myself."
• An Introduction to XML ~ "XML opens the doors to new ways of publishing and presenting data. Learn to harness its power in this introductory tutorial."
• XML for the absolute beginner ~ It's subtitled "A guided tour from HTML to processing XML with Java", but it's a great overview. And it doesn't get to Java until 3/4 through the article, so it's still fine for those with no Java-knowledge.
• The XML Revolution: Technologies for the future Web ~ This isn't basic, but it is a good overview of several advanced XML technologies. "This slide collection provides an introduction and overview of XML, Namespaces, XInclude, XML Base, XLink, XPointer, XPath, DTD, XML Schema, DSD, XSLT, XQuery, DOM, SAX, and JDOM including selected links to more information about each topic."

I'd like to look over a collection of resources about XML.

• ZVON ~ Wow. The amount of material here is just staggering. And it's all useful. Check it out!
• What is XML? ~ It's at GeoCities, but it's still a nice collection of resources.
• Extensible Markup Language (XML) ~ Straight from the horses' mouth ... XML according to the W3C. Specs, resources, and more.
• Spotlight on XML ~ "CNET Builder.com has collected the best XML resources from around the Web, from beginning tutorials to real-world examples."
• XML Core ~ Microsoft's take on XML. Quite a large collection of stuff. A lot is Microsoft-centric, of course.
• Project Cool XML Zone ~ "Project Cool's XML Zone takes you from a basic introduction to XML, through detailed how-to tutorials and advanced techniques, including our IE 5.0 behavior library and on-going interviews with innovators who are applying XML to their own web projects."

Where can I find some FAQs about XML?

• The XML FAQ ~ An excellent FAQ about XML, covering questions & answers in the following areas: General, Users, Authors, & Developers.
• Extensible Markup Language (XML) FAQ Knowledge Base ~ There aren't a lot of questions here, but the always-excellent IRT is behind this set of pages.

I'd like to find out about various browsers' support for XML.

• XML in Mozilla 1.0 ~ "Mozilla offers a rich XML processing environment, where handling XML as a document format and exposing XML documents through DOM access functions is only the beginning. Mozilla supports the following XML-related features:"

What books would be good for someone interested in XML?

• The XML Bible, 2nd Edition ~ Elliotte Rusty Harold's excellent book covers everything you need to know. Highly recommended.
• Updated Chapters from The XML Bible ~ "This directory contains chapters from the XML Bible that have had to be revised as a result of shifting specifications."

Where can I find software that I can use to work with XML?

• Free XML tools and software ~ "This is a frequently-updated and hopefully complete index of free XML tools, with much metadata about the tools to make them easier to locate." This is really, really nice.
• XML Spy ~ If you want to create XML documents, or XSLT, or almost anything else XML-related, AND you work on Windows, then you really need to check XML Spy out. Unfortunately, it costs hundreds of dollars. But it's sure nice.

What do I need to know about XSL, the eXtensible Stylesheet Language?

• XSL - What's in it for us? ~ A nice short overview of XSL from the fine folks at IRT.
• The Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) ~ From the originators of the spec, the W3C on XSLT ... everything you wanted to know.
• Introduction to XSLT ~ A big part of XSL is XSLT, and this lengthy overview will help get you started.

I'd like to learn more about XML Schema.

• Understanding XML Schema ~ "XML Schema, offers all the capabilities of current DTDs, adds a bunch of powerful new features, and is a lot easier on the eye". A good, long article that covers the basics.

What is RDF and how does it power the Semantic Web?

• The Semantic Web: 1-2-3 ~ "I cobbled this fair piece together in an attempt to collect my thoughts, answered questions, path-of-learning, and requisite bookmarks so that other XML hackers may follow in my footsteps."

What's RSS, Real Simple Syndication?

• We've moved our RSS information.

Tell me about SOAP, the Simple Object Access Protocol.

• SOAP at UserLand ~ UserLand helped to develop the SOAP protocol, and they have a great collection of resources.
• Soapware.org ~ Also from UserLand, and described as "The leading directory for SOAP 1.1 developers".
• Understanding SOAP ~ A nice overview of SOAP from PC Magazine.
• SOAP Linkfest ~ Really well done: a great collection of links and notes.

XML-RPC was introduced before SOAP, and it's very similar. Where can I find out more?

• XML-RPC Home ~ UserLand helped to create XML-RPC and they have kept the flame burning with this awesome collection of resources.
• XML-RPC HOWTO ~ "Describes how to use XML-RPC to implement clients and servers in a variety of languages. Provides example code in Perl, Python, C, C++, Java, PHP and other languages. Includes sections on Zope and KDE 2.0. Applies to all operating systems with XML-RPC support."
• XML-RPC Linkfest ~ A nice, carefully selected list of links covering all aspects of XML-RPC. Very nice.

Yet another acronym: OPML, the Outline Processor Markup Language, a format for storing outlines in XML.

• OPML 1.0 Specification ~ Everything you'd want to know about OPML, from UserLand.
• OPML at UserLand ~ A directory of information about UserLand's various products and their support for OPML.

Want to suggest a Web site we've missed, or let us know about a broken link? Email & let us know!

Note: These links lead to Web sites that are not under my control. I bear no responsibility for the content of these sites.