XML vs HTML

What is XML?

XML is a type of markup language used to store the data. It is very much popular for the transfer of data. It is a case-sensitive language. With the help of XML, we can define the markup elements and customize the markup language. Element is known as the basic element of XML. The XML file should be stored with the extension of .xml.

Features of XML

There are some features of XML.

We must define our customized tags, as the XML tags are not predefined.
XML is designed in such a way that it can carry the data, but it cannot display the data.
The code of XML can easily understand by any human.
The code of XML is written in such a manner that it can easily be read and written from the program.
XML is also an extensible Markup Language like HTML language.

Example of XML

<bookstore>  
  <book category="COOKING">  
    <title lang="en">Everyday Italian</title>  
    <author>Giada De Laurentiis</author>  
    <year>2005</year>  
    <price>30.00</price>  
  </book>  
  <book category="CHILDREN">  
    <title lang="en">Harry Potter</title>  
    <author>J K. Rowling</author>  
    <year>2005</year>  
    <price>29.99</price>  
  </book>  
  <book category="WEB">  
    <title lang="en">Learning XML</title>  
    <author>Erik T. Ray</author>  
    <year>2003</year>  
    <price>39.95</price>  
  </book>  
</bookstore>  

Output:

Explanation:

In the above code, we have created the <bookstore> as the root element. All the elements lie inside the <bookstore> element. Inside the <bookstore> is another element named <book>. The <book> element has four children. These are <title>,< author>, <year> and <price>.

What is HTML?

HTML is a markup language used to create and design a webpage. HTML has so many tags and attributes by which we can create the layout and structure of the webpage. The main of HTML is to design the webpage in a formatted manner.

The extension name for HTML is .html and .htm. We can write any HTML code with the help of any basic code editor or even a notepad. We can execute the HTML code in any browser. All the tags are rendered from the code in the browser and displayed with or without the formatting.

Features of HTML

There are also some features of HTML. These are as follows.

It is a type of simple language that is used to create and design a webpage.
It provides a feature that the developer can embed the multimedia document into the webpage.
It is flexible to support hypertext linking.

Example of HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
 <meta charset="UTF-8">
 <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
 <title>Document</title>
</head>

 <body>
  <h1>Example of the &lt;br&gt; tag usage</h1>
  <blockquote>
   But I'm not the only one<br>
   I hope someday you'll join us<br>
   And the world will live as one.<br>
  </blockquote>
  <cite>John Lennon "imagine"</cite>
 
</body>
</html>

Output:

What is the difference between XML and HTML?

There are some key differences between XML and HTML.

XML	HTML
XML stands for Extensible Markup Language.	HTML stands for a hypertext markup language.
It is a type of framework used to specify that it is a markup language.	It is a predefined markup language.
It is a case-sensitive language.	It is case-insensitive language.
It provides the structural details.	It needs to provide the structural details.
The main purpose of XML is used to transfer the data.	The main purpose of HTML is used to create and design the webpage.
It does not allow any error in the coding.	If there is a small error in the code, then it is ignored by the HTML.
Whitespace is allowed in the code of XML.	Whitespace is not allowed in the code of HTML.
In XML, we have to perform the nesting operation appropriately.	The nesting of code does not affect the HTML code.
XML is driven by content.	The format drives HTML.
In XML, the closing tag is mandatory.	But in HTML, some tags do not have the closing tag.
XML requires the code around XML attribute values.	Here no quote requires the value of the attribute.
The convention should express all the objects in XML. Most of the objects use elements and attributes.	The HTML natively offers Object support.
In XML, we need to use xsi:nil on elements in an XML instance document. We also need to import all the corresponding namespaces.	In HTML, the elements are recognized with the help of a null value.
XML supports the namespace. With the help of a namespace, we can remove the collision risk created when we combine it with another document.	The concept of namespace does not supported by HTML. In HTML, we can avoid the naming collision by implementing prefixes in the object or performing nesting operations.
In XML, there is a requirement for the connection between the MAP application type to the element and attribute of the XML.	In HTML, we can provide direct mapping for the application data.
In XML, we use the document, which is very lengthy in size.	In HTML, we only use formatted text.
In XML, we use the implementation of the XML DOM for parsing the javascript.	In HTML, the parsing of javascript there is no code required for parsing the text.
Learning technology like XPath, XML Schema, DOM, etc, is much more difficult.	It is a simple technology that is very popular among the developer.
In XML, all the tags are enclosed by the closing square bracket.	In HTML, all the tags are enclosed by the angle bracket.
There is no particular structure in the XML.	There is a particular format for writing HTML code containing tags and attributes.
XML is neither a programming language nor a presentation language.	With the help of HTML, we can maintain the data presentation on the webpage.
It is a dynamic language.	It is a static language.
In XML, data interchange is possible.	In HTML, data interchange is not possible.
XML supports some data types. The supported data types are Boolean, integer, duration, date, etc.	HTML supports no concept of datatype.

What is the Advantage of XML Compared to HTML?

There are some advantages of XML over HTML.

The major advantage of XML over HTML is with XML, we can transfer the data to any other platform. For example, if we want to transfer data between an application and a database, we can easily achieve this with the help of XML. But it is not possible in the case of HTML.
All the data and information are stored in XML in different locations.
XML is an independent platform that is supported in any application.
XML is an extendable language, i.e., we can add or remove the information at any time.
XML is very difficult to learn as we need to learn XPath, XML schema, etc.
With the help of XML, it is very much simple to handle the processing of information structure.
With the help of XML, we can reduce the complexity of the code.
With the help of XML, we can create our own tags.