XML stand for eXtensible Markup Language. XML is a way for people to store information electronically so that other companies can read those documents.
The benefit created by the XML approach is that the document format for each type of file is described by a separate document (a "DTD") that is to be published on the web.
- XML by itself has very limited usefulness. For XML to provide benefits, companies must agree with each other on the precise meanings of each component in an XML file.
- Several consortiums are working on developing data sets that are meaningful for specific types of transactions within their industries. Once these standards (on top of XML) are widely accepted and used, XML will be a useful tool to increase productivity.
