MySQL™ and JSP™ Web Applications: Data-Driven Programming Using Tomcat and MySQL

The Benefits of XML

XML has revolutionized data interchange. Whereas complicated fixed-length record files used to be coded to trade information back and forth between applications and companies, many applications now accept XML files that are both more readable by humans and less prone to error.

Fixed-length and delimited file formats might be more compact, but XML offers several advantages. First, when combined with a DTD, an XML document is self-descriptive and self-verifying. That is, the fields give you information about their content, and the DTD describes the valid ordering of the elements so that you can make sure that the document is correctly structured. A file of fixed-length fields doesn't give you any useful information unless you ...