Simple comparison: what is the difference between html and xml

HTML and XML are two common markup languages ​​that are essentially similar in that they are both structured ways of describing text and data. However, HTML and XML each have different goals and uses, so there are many differences between them.

1. Different purposes

HTML is a markup language used to create Web pages. It is used to describe the structure, content, and presentation of documents. The main purpose of HTML is to display content so that web browsers can display the document correctly.

XML is a general markup language that can be used for different types of data, such as configuration files, data transmission, and exchange. XML does not focus on representation, but on the structured and semantic description of data.

2. The strictness of markup language

HTML language is characterized by loose markup rules. Tags do not need to be closed. Some tags will be automatically completed by the browser and errors will occur. Content can also be output. HTML pursues an effect that can be perfectly displayed on the browser.

XML language requires that tags must be strictly standardized and each tag must be closed. The main purpose of XML is to describe the structure of data rather than display it, so it requires higher precision and clear semantic definition.

3. Different processing methods

HTML documents are generally parsed by web browsers. The browser will parse the file according to the rules of the HTML language and will parse the results. Rendered on the client side. The use of HTML with CSS and JavaScript can achieve richer effects and interactive experiences.

XML documents need to be parsed by an XML parser. Before parsing the document, the DTD or XSD file of the document needs to be defined. XML is more used in data transmission, configuration files, and the development of various XML-based applications, such as SOAP, XML-RPC, etc.

4. Different description forms

Most HTML description forms need to be generated by a text parser, which determines the semantics of the tag through the position of the mark. HTML contains a large number of semantic tags (such as ``), which are used to describe various parts of the Web page.

XML uses more custom tags, so tags must be defined before parsing. These tags can be created as needed. Unlike HTML, XML tags can be defined according to the needs of actual application scenarios.

5. The subsequent scalability is different

HTML has become one of the standard languages ​​​​in the Web world, but it was originally designed to display documents and cannot be adapted better scenarios and various complex requirements. Although HTML5 has made up for various shortcomings of the Web standards of the last century, it also needs to be supported on the browser side in order to be widely used.

XML does not have such restrictions. It has very good scalability and can define tags according to actual needs to solve problems. At the same time, because XML can be customized into various formats without requiring a specific Web browser to parse it, XML data can be widely used for data transmission between different applications.

Conclusion

In general, HTML and XML have their own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. HTML focuses more on the presentation of the page, while XML focuses on the description and analysis of data.

In practical applications, we should choose to use HTML or XML according to specific needs and actual conditions. For web application development, HTML focuses on presentation and XML focuses on data. The combined use of these two languages ​​can bring better development results.

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