XML

Abbreviation · Development

Definitions

  1. Extensible Markup Language — a text-based, self-describing data format that uses nested opening and closing tags to represent hierarchical data. Once the dominant format for APIs, configuration, and data exchange, it has largely been supplanted by JSON in web contexts but remains entrenched in enterprise systems, SOAP services, and formats like SVG and DOCX.

    In plain English: A way of structuring data using labeled tags, like a very verbose filing system that both humans and computers can read.

    Example: "The vendor's API only speaks XML, so now we have a 200-line XSD schema just to parse an invoice."

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