• What Can You Do with XML
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    Is XML an Application? What Does It Do?




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    Ceponkus, Hoodbhoy - Applied XML - Toolkit for Programmers

    Is XML an Application? What Does It Do?
    XML is not an application. It is not something like Microsoft Word or Netscape Navigator 
    that you can double-click and run. It is a form of expression that’s been standardized, just 
    as any language is characterized and standardized by rules of grammar. Because it is a 
    language, it is only as good as the person or persons who speak it, write in it, and use it.
     
    Vanevar Bush
    In the article “As We May Think” (
    The Atlantic Monthly
    , July 1945), Vanevar Bush 
    introduced the concept of 
    associative indexing
    , the belief that human beings do not 
    think linearly, but that our thoughts are constantly bouncing around and certain 
    sensory input results in thought processes in a nonlinear fashion. For example, 
    when you look at the word 
    tree
    , your next thought could be of a natural tree, a 
    branched diagram, a memory associated with a tree, or anything else. The process 
    of “thinking the next thought” based on stimuli is what Bush called 
    associative 
    indexing
    .
     
    Why Isn’t XML Called “EML” Instead?
    Engineers and computer scientists always have a good reason. In this case, it’s because 
    XML sounds cooler. We geeks and nerds like things that sound cool. 
    X
    has a particularly 
    enigmatic aura about it (for example, The X-Files, X-Men, and 
    X
    marks the spot). XML is 
    cool. Besides, EML sounds like it’s for weenies. 
    What Can You Do with XML?

    - 14 -
    We’re tempted to say just about anything, but that’s too abstract. Here are some more 
    tangible examples of what you can do with XML:
    Electronic commerce.
    Far and away the most hyped application of XML is electronic 
    commerce. Because XML gives you a rich way of describing information, you can create 
    more intelligent transport mechanisms to conduct business over the Web. 
    Chapter 2
    explores this application area in more detail.

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