Future XML Upgrade

Why use XML

Extensible markup language (XML) was designed to transport and store data, whereas Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) was designed to display data.  Therefore HTML was well suited to Web 1.0, which focused on display static pages of data and content.  Web 2.0 and beyond encourages the exchange of data between users and entities, and is therefore more suited to XML.  XML is extensible (allows user-defined tags), supports newer display devices, and can be used to "create the next generation HTML, known as XHTML" (Ruse, 2005, p.45). 

XML makes it possible to define the content of a document separately from its formatting (which HTML would be used for), allowing re-use of content in other applications. Also, XML provides a basic syntax that can be used to share information between different kinds of computers, different applications, and different organizations (St. Laurent, 1998). Therefore, as this website increases in complexity and starts to collect and share data between users with different devices and software, an upgrade to use XML should be considered.

Implementation

It is planned to implement XML to this site with the use of XHTML, using user-defined tags, allowing enhanced function and pages that are easier to maintain (Ruse, 2005, p.52).  The entire site will be re-developed before it becomes more complex.  This will mean a quicker and cheaper switch to XML. The site will then be enhanced in XML from that point, as functionality is added that requires exchange and storage of data, and use of more varied devices and applications. 

The existing site will be maintained as the new XML site is developed.  No new functionality will be considered at this point to keep the complexity of the re-development as low as possible.  Once the new XML site is developed and fully tested (including user-acceptance and performance testing) then the old site will be decommissioned and replaced.

Therefore the entire site will be affected or changed, but this should be completely transparent to the user.

Advantages of upgrade

• The GUI is not embedded in the data. Editing pages will be easier e.g. the use of style sheets to format data. XHTML is far easier and less time consuming to maintain than ordinary HTML pages (Ruse, 2005, p.52)
• The code is much more descriptive and acts as its own documentation
• Searching the data is easy and efficient. Search engines can simply parse the description-bearing tags rather than muddling in the data. Tags provide the search engines with the intelligence they lack (Sol, 2013)

Disadvantages of upgrade   

• The biggest drawback is that XML requires a processing application The XML documents have to be converted to HTML before they are deployed (Exforsys Inc, 2007).  Hence the decision to use XHTML as a solution.
• XML documents can be difficult and also expensive to setup, as they must be ‘well-formed’, adhering to the syntax rules of the language (Felke-Morris, 2011, p.25). They can also be quite verbose, meaning the writing and tagging sets of various authors may differ significantly.
  

References

Felke-Morris, T. (2011). Web development and design foundations with XHTML. Boston: Pearson.

Exforsys Inc, 2007. XML Disadvantages. Retrieved from: http://www.exforsys.com/tutorials/xml/xml-disadvantages.html

Ruse, K. (2005). Web standards design guide. Hingham, MA: Charles River Media.

Sol, S. (2013). XML Advantages & Disadvantages. Retrieved from: http://www.theukwebdesigncompany.com/articles/xml-advantages-disadvantages.php

St. Laurent, S. (1998). Why XML? Retrieved from: http://www.simonstl.com/articles/whyxml.htm