First of all, what a fascinating title. I was intrigued by this video, "The Machine is Us/ing Us" before I even watched it
But, what I wanted to address was the question posed about HTML vs. XML. Last winter, I took an Internet Publishing class were I learned how to code using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Really it is the coolest thing to be able to imagine, design, create, and display something on the web that you created from scratch. I could not have been more proud of myself when I coded an entire website all on my own. I actually really wish it was still up on the web so I could link to it and show it off more.
Anyways, I understand HTML pretty well and what it does, but I didn't really grasp exactly what XML is from the video, so I went to the XML page for w3schools.com (a website that we frequently used in Internet Publishing) and checked the wikipedia page to try and figure it out.
Here is the differentiation that w3schools gave me
XML was designed to transport and store data.
HTML was designed to display data.
So really they are both equally important right?
If I'm understanding correctly, when I post to something like this blog I am using XML, because it is in a pre-created format that inputs and stores my date, but what you are seeing is formated in HTML, because this is where the data (stored in XML) is being displayed (in HTML).
XML doesn't make HTML useless, it just makes it more effective. XML means that every time I wanted to make a change to a website, I don't have to go in and edit all of the HTML code so that the display and layout will not be effected, but the data and content can be updated and changed regularly. This kind of feature is essential for websites like Wikipedia or Blogger where content is regularly added or changed by users who are unfamiliar with coding, but where HTML becomes essential is in the actual display of the data in an appealing and well layed out format, which makes a big difference for a webpage.
Now, I am willing to admit that I could have just gotten all of that completely wrong. If I am wrong, I would love to have someone explain this all to me because I am really interested in understanding it.
Nicely explained. You have explained the differences well. I had not mentioned the importance of XML for enabling easy updating.
ReplyDeleteGood post! I think another big benefit of XML (assuming I understand it correctly) is that it allows for automated, cross-platform exchange of information. As far as I understand, it's this feature specifically that allows for feeds, blog readers, viewing on different devices, etc.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you explained it like this. Learning to understand these terms and their benefits is so important for taking the steps to integrating ourselves into digital culture. It is all interconnected, so how can we expect to properly learn about a certain aspect of digital culture if we don't understand at least the beginnings of all aspects?
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