W3C XML Activities

XML was designed to transport and store data.

XML Tutorial

To learn more about XML, read our XML tutorial.

XML Versions

XML 1.0

XML 1.0 became a W3C Recommendation 10. February 1998.

XML 1.0 (Second Edition)

XML 1.0 (SE) became a W3C Recommendation 6. October 2000. The second edition is not a new version, but an update and a "bug-fix".

XML 1.0 (Third Edition)

The third edition is not a new version, but an update and a "bug-fix".

XML 1.1

XML 1.1 was released as a Working Draft 13. December 2001, and became a Candidate Recommendation 15. October 2002. XML 1.1 allows almost any Unicode characters to be used in names.

Other W3C XML Technologies

XML Namespaces

In XML, element names are defined by the developer. This often results in a conflict when trying to mix XML documents from different XML applications.

XML Namespaces provide a method to avoid element name conflicts.

XML Linking (XLink, XPointer, and XML Base)

XLink allows you to insert links into XML documents.

XPointer allows the links to address into specific parts of an XML document.

XML Base is a standard for defining a default reference to external XML resources (similar to <base> in HTML).

XInclude

XInclude is a mechanism for merging XML documents using elements, attributes, and URI references.

W3C XML Specifications and Timeline

W3C Reference:

W3C XML Home Page

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