What is the Difference Between XML and SGML?
🆚 Go to Comparative Table 🆚XML and SGML are both markup languages used for structuring and organizing data. However, they have some key differences:
- Complexity: SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) is a complicated set of rules that define document structures, while XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a simpler and more specific subset of SGML that uses fewer rules.
- Purpose: XML is primarily used to define data, while SGML is used in various industries like publishing, aerospace, and document management.
- Usability: XML is more easily implemented on large networks such as the Internet due to its simplicity and organized nature, while SGML is more complex and less suitable for modern applications.
- Customization: XML allows a high degree of customization and enables the creation of new tags, while SGML has predefined rules for tags and elements.
- Readability: Both humans and machines can read XML documents, but SGML documents are primarily intended for machine processing.
In summary, XML is a more simplified and specific version of SGML, making it more suitable for modern applications and data exchange on the Internet. XML allows for greater customization and is more easily implemented, while SGML is more complex and better suited for specific industries.
Comparative Table: XML vs SGML
XML and SGML are both markup languages used for structuring and describing content. However, there are some key differences between the two:
| Feature | XML (Extensible Markup Language) | SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | XML is a subset of SGML and is defined in the XML 1.0 specification developed by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). | SGML is an international standard (ISO 8879:1986) that describes a language for describing data. |
| Functionality | XML has less functionality than SGML but is simpler to use and implement, making it more popular as a data markup language. | SGML allows for more complex features and is used to create structures for various types of data. |
| Document Structure | XML is a markup language that transfers data and text between different hardware, operating systems, and applications with little human intervention. | SGML is not a document language but a Document Type Definition (DTD) that can interpret any document using its DTD, providing more portability. |
| Format-Independence | Both XML and SGML are format-independent, meaning they do not dictate how the data should be presented unless that is part of the structure and has been designed into it. | Both XML and SGML are format-independent, meaning they do not dictate how the data should be presented unless that is part of the structure and has been designed into it. |
In summary, XML is a simplified version of SGML that is more widely used due to its ease of use and implementation. SGML, on the other hand, offers more complex features and is used to create structures for various types of data. Both languages are format-independent and are used to structure and describe content rather than dictate its presentation.