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Difference Between XML and HTML
XML is doubtlessly an imperative exchange format. Now the questions are- can it be considered as the best format for authoring? For complete text content should it serve as the official storage format? To what extent of upstream should it be integrated into workflow?
Before starting to ponder over, have a look at the books for a while. Publishing industry has made EPUB and MOBI as the standard format for electronic delivery. This helps publishers to seek only fewer options for official source format. Though most publishers are yet to adopt HTML, this markup language also is crucial when it comes to book publishing as per reputed Indian companies. Most advanced and progressive publishers such as O’Reilly are now embracing HTML5/CSS3 workflow, which avails a rich authoring as well as editing experience. Above all, it helps you a hassle-free and swift electronic and print delivery without any long complicated processing or conversion.
Why companies offering XML file conversion services are being hired? Perhaps, it is because people have become accustomed to the uses of XML and they are not willing to think of any other option. However, we can enlist some notable benefits. It is software/platform independent and so is HTML. XML allows the remixing and management of content towards node level which is not that useful for journal articles. It also permits transformation of the content to numerous formats including PDF. The same can be done using HTML/CSS3 also.
To mention the downsides, XML workflows is costly and when it is about conversion, the process is time consuming as well. Another issue is with the learning curve.
We have summarized the advantages and the disadvantages of HTML and XML in order to help you get a quick glance at the basic features. Here we go:
Advantages of HTML
HTML facilitates proper building of a website’s structure. Some of the other advantages are:
- It is quite easy to create HTML-based browser interfaces.
- It is also compatible with unrelated systems.
- HTML comes with an extremely simplistic syntax and is very easy to understand.
- You can develop your webpage using different tags.
- You will be given the opportunity to make use of diverse objects, colors, and layouts.
Advantages of XML over HTML
Here are a few reasons why you may want to opt for XML:
- With XML, documents can be easily transported from one system to the other and across applications.
- Data can be exchanged quickly across diverse platforms.
- XML allows for the segregation of data that is in HTML format.
- XML also promotes the simplification of the platform change mechanism.
A quick comparison between HTML and XML
The differences between XML and HTML are based on a definite set of parameters. Let’s take a quick look at the list of these factors in order to draw a comparison between XML and HTML:
| Criteria | HTML | XML |
|---|---|---|
| Type Of Language | This is a predefined markup language that is case sensitive. | This is a framework for markup languages and it is case-sensitive too. |
| Purpose | It is applied for data presentation. | This is applied to facilitate data transfer |
| Object Support | Users get native object support. | Conventions are used to express objects using attributes and elements. |
| Namespaces | HTML is not compatible with namespaces. You can avoid naming collisions by applying a prefix in an object by nesting objects. | XML is compatible with namespaces, eliminating the risk of name collisions in combination with extra documents. |
| Ease of Learning | This technology stack is familiar to developers. | It is harder as one needs to learn DOM, XPath, XML Schema, etc. |
| Parsing | You do not require an extra application code for parsing text in JavaScript. | An XML DOM implementation code is required for mapping text into objects in JavaScript. |
| Null Identification | It identifies the null value by default. | You must apply xsi:nil on XML instance document elements. |
So, in a nutshell even though HTML seems to be a better option, the positives of XML should not be overlooked as well. Being an experienced XML conversion service provider, offering various types of document conversion services, including HTML conversion services, we would really be happy to alleviate any types of doubts that you may have in this regard.
