What is the Difference Between XML and HTML?
🆚 Go to Comparative Table 🆚XML and HTML are both markup languages, but they serve different purposes and have distinct features. Here are the main differences between XML and HTML:
- Purpose: XML is used for data transfer and storage, while HTML is focused on the presentation of data in a formatted manner.
- Static vs. Dynamic: HTML is static in nature, meaning it is used for displaying data, while XML is dynamic, used for transporting data.
- Case Sensitivity: XML is case-sensitive, while HTML is case-insensitive.
- Tags: HTML has predefined tags, whereas XML allows users to define their own tags. HTML tags are used for displaying data, while XML tags are used for describing data.
- Error Handling: XML does not allow errors, while HTML can ignore small errors.
- Extensions: HTML has an extension of .html and .htm, while XML has an extension of .xml.
- Namespaces Support: XML provides namespaces support, while HTML does not.
- White Space Preservation: HTML does not preserve white spaces, while XML can preserve white spaces.
In summary, XML is a more flexible and extensible language used for data transfer and storage, while HTML is a predefined language focused on the presentation and formatting of data.
Comparative Table: XML vs HTML
XML and HTML are both markup languages, but they serve different purposes and have distinct characteristics. Here is a table comparing the key differences between XML and HTML:
| Parameter | XML | HTML |
|---|---|---|
| Type of language | XML is a framework for specifying markup languages. | HTML is a predefined markup language. |
| Language type | Case sensitive | Case insensitive |
| Purpose | Transfer of data | Presentation of the data |
| Coding Errors | No coding errors are allowed | Small errors are ignored |
| Structural details | Provided | Not provided |
| User-defined tags | Allowed | Not allowed |
- XML is primarily used for data exchange and storage, while HTML is used to display content in a web browser.
- XML is more strict in formatting, while HTML is more flexible and will attempt to render incorrectly formatted code.
- HTML has predefined tags and elements, whereas XML allows users to create their own tags.
- HTML documents can be edited with any basic code editor, while XML requires a more specialized text editor to ensure proper formatting.
In some cases, XML and HTML can work together to create dynamic web content. For example, data can be stored and updated in an XML file, and HTML can be used to display the data in a web browser.
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