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XML Lingua Franca of the Internet
The Internet has enabled people and systems to communication with anyone,
anywhere and at almost any time. The basis of this communications ubiquity is
a set of widely accepted standards. These allow for the creation and
distribution of pages of information that can be seen on-demand by many
different viewers. But while these standards provide an excellent foundation
for controlling and distributing the pages that information and data may
reside on, they are not suited for sharing the information and data itself.
As it is today, the Internet is great for distributing and sharing non-complex
data text and pictures. Hypertext markup language (HTML) is the standard for
defining the way in which pictures and words are displayed. But as a medium
for distributed applications to share data, it is lacking. The extensible
markup language (XML) is a standard that addresses that data definition
requirement. It provides an industry-standard way for structured data to be
distributed and managed in an unstructured manner. Simplistically, the
definition of the data is contained within the data itself.
Some of the key benefits that businesses can be expected to derive from using
XML include:
- Data integration from disparate sources and multiple applications.
This is the real big one. This is at the foundation of creating the omnibus,
distributed environment, where applications of all type, located globally,
interact in a meaningful way.
- More flexible Internet applications.
Because the data dissemination and assimilation is separated from the way the
data may look or be processed, applications can be broken into logical pieces
that potentially are easier and cost less to create and maintain.
- Manipulation of data locally
Data delivered via XML can be processed locally, at the point of consumption
as opposed to on the server. This saves time and bandwidth hence money.
- Ability to create alternative views of same data
Because the data is separated from the look, it is possible to display the
data in different formats and pages.
- Update data at a very granular level.
XML allows applications to share only the specific data that needs to be
update, eliminating the need to do a complete data refresh. Only those data
elements that need updating need be updated.
Implications of XML will be widespread and pervasive it allows disparate
applications and enterprises to share structured data in an unstructured way.
It provides interoperability using a flexible, open, standards-based format,
with new ways of accessing legacy databases and delivering data to Web
clients. Applications can be built more quickly, are easier to maintain, and
can easily present different views of data by leveraging XML and HTML.
Applications and systems of virtually any ilk will be able to create XML
descriptions of their data and communicate those descriptions between each
other using the Internet protocol, HTTP. Extrapolating this, we see XML as
the key to unlocking the legacy information stored in mainframe databases
and documents, and unlocking that data without having to convert anything.
It will support new ways of accessing legacy databases and delivering
information to Internet users whether those users are people or
applications. All of this should speed application development time and
lower on-going support costs, while providing very flexible mechanisms to
look at structured data in very flexible ways. And because XML is extensible,
it can be used to describe a near infinite number of data descriptions and
relationships.
Downstream, we believe that XML will become the cornerstone of many vertical
market exchanges and communities, as discrete sites elect to use XML to
create seamless data integration with their market and/or community.
We believe that XML will become a fundamental technology of the Internet,
having significant impact on the way businesses use the Internet internally
and the way that businesses use the Internet to maintain and build
relationships. Indeed, XML may well be the technology and standard that
drives the Business Internet.
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