XML and HTML are the markup languages defined for distinct purposes and have several differences. HTML was designed to facilitate the transfer of web-based documents. Whereas, XML was developed for providing interoperability with HTML and ease of implementation. In this article, we will discuss the Difference between HTML and XML in the following sequence:
What is HTML?
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is used for creating web pages and web applications. It is a computer language that is used to apply layout and formatting conventions to a text document. Markup language makes the text more interactive and dynamic. It can turn text into images, tables, links, etc.
You can create your own static page with HTML. It is used for displaying the data and not to transport the data. Hypertext defines the link between the web pages. A markup language is used to define the text document within tag which defines the structure of web pages.
Example:
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Welcome to Edureka</title> </head> <body> <h1>Web Development</h1> <p>HTML vs XML</p> </body> </html>
Now let’s move on and see how XML works.
What is XML?
XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is also used to create web pages and web applications. But it is a dynamic language that is used to transport the data and not for displaying the data. The design goals of XML focus on simplicity, generality, and usability across the Internet.
It is a textual data format with strong support via Unicode for different human languages. The design of XML usually focuses on documents. But the language is widely used for the representation of arbitrary data structures such as those used in web services.
Example:
<?xml version = "1.0"?> <contactinfo> <address category = "office"> <name>eLearning</name> <Office>Edureka</Office> <empid>112340</empid> </address> </contactinfo>
Now let’s talk about some of the advantages of HTML and XML.
Advantages of HTML
HTML Helps you in building the structure of a website. There are many more advantages such as:
- HTML document browser interfaces are simple to build.
- It works for unrelated systems as well.
- HTML is easy to understand and it has a very simple syntax.
- You can use different tags to create your webpage.
- It allows you to use various colors, objects, and layouts.
Advantages of XML
Some of the Advantages of XML include:
- It makes documents transportable across systems and applications.
- You can also exchange data quickly between different platforms.
- XML separates the data from HTML.
- It simplifies the platform change process.
Difference between HTML and XML
There are different parameters to compare the difference between HTML and XML. Let’s have a look at the list of parameters and distinguish between the two languages:
| Parameter | HTML | XML |
Language Type | HTML is a case sensitive, predefined markup language. | XML is a case sensitive framework for markup languages. |
Purpose | It is used for presentation of the Data. | It is used for transferring the Data. |
Object Support | HTML offers native object support. | Objects are expressed by conventions with the help of attributes and elements. |
Namespaces | HTML does not support namespaces. Naming collisions are avoided using a prefix in an object member name or by nesting objects. | XML supports namespaces which help you remove the risk of name collisions while combining with other documents. |
Learning Curve | It is a simple technology stack that is familiar to developers. | Comparatively hard as you need to learn XPath, XML Schema, DOM, etc. |
Parsing in JavaScript | You don’t need an extra application code to parse text. | You need an XML DOM implementation and application code to map text back into JavaScript objects. |
Null Support | It natively recognizes the null value. | You need to use xsi:nil on elements in an XML instance document. |
These are some of the parameters that will help you understand the difference between HTML and XML. With this, we have come to the end of our article.
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