XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a method for marking up documents. It is a highly flexible approach to defining the structure of a document and people who know HTML will be familiar with its markup schema. XML, however, is much more powerful and flexible than HTML because it allows you to create custom tags that can define additional information about the document contents. More importantly, however, XML is more than a language – it is a meta-language in that is it allows the user to create specialized markup languages for their own purposes.

XML’s flexibility allows documents to be easily manipulated into a variety of formats so that it can be used in different contexts. By providing features that allow the contents of documents to be structured and described provides a method for encoding their semantic meaning. More prosaically, businesses that use XML format documents can simplify their business-to-business document interchange transactions and exchange data seamlessly with other users of XML:

XML training courses provide an overview of the system and will outline the many business benefits of encoding documents using the language. They will cover the design and implementation of XML documents and also show how to use specialized editors (although text editors are sufficient) to generate and update XML documents. They will also teach the user about the Document Object Model that defines the objects within XML documents, how to extract and modify data from XML documents and how to store and retrieve results from databases in XML format.

Training will also generally cover the use of Extensible Style Language (XSL) that is used to translate XML documents into schemas for presentation (such as on a webpage, mobile phone, presentation and so on) by defining the styles associated with each element within the document. This will allow students to format data in XML documents into whatever presentation format they require – such as HTML or PDF, for example. Many courses also offer modules related to securing XML training courses interchange by implementing various forms of transport security through encryption or by enabling SOAP security.

XML training course providers offer in-person training at various venues and can also make their training available at the client’s premises or online for those that are too busy to attend classes. XML is used in thousands of applications to define and transmit information and is conceptually not that difficult to learn. For those creating front ends for Android apps, for example, it is an absolute must.