between two pieces of bread... Not overly fancy, but makes a good sammich.
But really, XML simply sets a standard for data transport. Using proper XML (and there ARE different formats!), Application A can talk to Application B, which in turn can talk to Database C on the other side of the world. Yea! For example... imagine a program that echos back whatever you give it. It takes XML as input and returns XML output. sending a package like...
<hello>
<Input>Hello World!</Input>
</hello>
might bring back...
<hello>
<helloResult>Hello World!</helloResult>
</hello>
Then you parse out the XML and check $request['Input'] == $reply['helloRequest'] (if, say, using NuSOAP and PHP :-)
Of course, the reply MAY contain other fields, like error structures and whatnot you can check for.
But, all in all, XML is peanut butter, holding two pieces of bread together and making them nummy.
BTW, if anyone recognizes the queries I presented... well, you've read too many API docs... |
