Extensible Markup Language (XML)

What is Extensible Markup Language (XML)?

XML is an acronym for eXtensible Markup Language.

It is a markup language that is used to store and transport data in a structured format. XML is a language that was developed to be both human-readable and machine-readable, making it easy to understand by both humans and computers.

In XML, data is stored in tags that define the structure and meaning of the data. For example, an XML document might contain tags like <book>, <author>, and <title> to define the structure of a book. Within each tag, data can be stored as text, numbers, or other formats.

XML is widely used for data exchange between different systems and applications, as it provides a standard way to structure and organize data. It is also used for creating configuration files, storing data in databases, and creating web services.

One of the advantages of XML is its flexibility. Because it is extensible, developers can create their own tags and structures to meet the specific needs of their applications. This makes it a powerful tool for organizing and sharing data in a way that is customized to the requirements of different industries and applications.

Whilst XML has become an important standard in the world of data exchange and communication, newer formats such as JSON are becoming more popular than XML.

In 2010, we upgraded our MIDAS booking software to utilize XML for both database and settings storage. Prior to this, our software stored its data in CSV files.

In 2012, we transitioned from using XML files for database storage to MySQL. We continued to utilize XML for storing software settings until 2019, when we then migrated to JSON.