What is XML?

Some of you will know what XML is. Some of you may even use it. For those of you who don't, this blog entry will be of interest to you.

Well, let's start by discussing what XML is.

XML stands for EXtensible Markup Language. It is called extensible because the language is extendable. See, while it can be compared to HTML (since the data is also marked up with tags) it really is quite different because:

a) The tags are not predefined (to put this simplistically, you create your own tags, hence extendable - one can add more tags as needed);
b) The rules are very strict (it would have to be because of point a above);
c) XML was not designed to display data, but rather to structure data;
d) HTML is restricted to be viewed in browsers (or similar software), whereas XML can be (and is) much more widely used.

XML is most often used to store data or transfer data. Either usage requires that the data is defined. E.g. this part of the data is the product name and this part is the price. This makes it possible for humans and computer programs to interpret the data.

So, what's the big deal? Well to start with, HTML is too restrictive (only has a limited set of tags) to be used to structure data. It does a great job in presenting data along with style sheets. But that is where its usefulness ends. XML won't replace it for this task, but it will work with HTML and, interestingly enough, it defines the latest version of HTML, called XHMTL.

What does this all mean? XML's job is to provide a way to store data in a structured and meaningful way that is not ambiguous. The design of XML is so clever that it can structure almost any data, including but not limited to electronic transfer data, mathematics, music, documents (of almost any kind), etc.

However, by itself, XML can't do these things. It is actually through the use of software written to use XML that its usefulness really comes out. And then it shines light years above anything else devised so far.

Therefore, to use XML one has to have at one's disposal programs (software) that are XML enabled. To the web developer it means that to benefit from XML you will need to know how to write programs (e.g. ASP.NET, JavaScript, etc.).

What software uses XML? Actually, quite a bit. Some word processing software already stores the documents in XML format. Many banking systems have already deployed XML to transfer financial information. From a web developer's point of view, you can use XML from inside many browsers using JavaScript. ASP can be used to create or read XML data. Technologies such as Java (JDEE) and ASP.NET have been developed to natively use XML as one of its array of data sources.

The question that may come to your lips is: Could you use XML inside your web pages? Yes, you can. Amongst the simplest functions can include using JavaScript inside the browser to display selected bits of info, make sortable columns, etc.

But, whatever way you want to use XML, you do need to get to learn it. There is really quite a lot to it and you should add that to your list of things to learn.

If you are interested in learning more about XML you may attend our XML course.

Find out more about web related training in South Africa visit http://www.workingwebs.co.za/.

Characteristics of a True Programmer

While programmers come in all shapes and sizes and from just about any ethnic group with no gender, race or age boundaries, there are common characteristics all programmers share. These are:

1. Works long hours
I have not come across a competent programmer that doesn’t work extra hours. Even the weekend programmer puts in a lot of time on weekends. This one seems always to be true. Ask the spouses and friends of real programmers. Even though this one is a pity in some ways – it seems that a “programmer” that does not follow this characteristic will not be much of a programmer even after years of training.

2. Does lots of research
All real programmers I have encountered spend a significant amount of time researching. They are always looking for new and better ways to do things or simply finding out how to do some task he/she doesn’t know how to do.

3. Is curious
Programmers are constantly curious about new things and techniques.

4. Tries to solve own problems
Sometimes, irritatingly so, programmers don’t want to be helped. They only ask for clues to a problem. After that they want to solve it themselves.

5. Experiments with new ideas and techniques
True programmers frequently have something new to show. The programmer might be a show-off or not. You might have to prise the idea out of him/her – but it will be there. Even new programmers show this characteristic early on.

6. Problem solver
A true programmer is a problem solver. While this may not extend into his/her personal life, it is certainly true for his/her programming challenges. The problem solving is not always in a straight line. Other techniques like lateral and predictive thinking are crucial techniques in a programmer’s life.

By the way, the above is true even for the week old programmer. If these characteristics don’t show up early on, then you don’t have a real programmer in the making.

Some definitions

There are two terms bandied about that often times cause confusion. So I thought I would define them as I see them:

Designer:
The person that designs good looking and suitable graphics and layouts for web pages. Some technical knowledge is needed but nowhere near that of the developer.

Developer:
Different from a designer in that a developer writes programs and designs data access structures. A developer needs to have some of the knowledge a designer has but can get away with not knowing how to design good looking graphic designs as the developer can work with a designer to do this.

In certain organizations even the development tasks are split. For instance, the web application developer and the database developer. But often, these tasks are combined. The size of the development usually determines the how tasks are split. Large developments usually require an additional post which is that of the Project Manager.


Hope this clarifies things for you (if you needed this to be clarified).