Strategic XML

Chapter 1. Introduction

“The History of every major Galactic Civilization tends to pass through three distinct and recognizable phases, those of Survival, Inquiry and Sophistication, otherwise known as the How, Why and Where phases. For instance, the first phase is characterized by the question 'How can we eat?' the second by the question 'Why do we eat?' and the third by the question 'Where shall we have lunch?'”

—The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Extensible Markup Language (XML), as a technology, has definitely passed beyond the “How?” stage. Now it is time for programmers and managers alike to ask themselves the “Why?” and “Where?” questions, and come up with answers that make sense.

The incredibly rapid acceptance of XML throughout the ...