question to ajit

[UDAY MISHRA]

Hello Ajit the XML guru
Namaskar
i am very new in xml as i just completed JAVA language and i came to know about XML with the different magzine and i am sure is a very good language and most valuable language for the future as you are master in this i would like to ask you a few question if you do not mind (you may feel silly) . Like java how to complie the XML code and from where should i get it that is the most important question for me . next is xml paraser is comming in java too and how to use it or let me say for the xml knowledge from where should i begin . if you could help me i will be very much thankfull to you .
next my heartly congratulation for clearing the XML certification.
waiting for your reply in mail or in offline msg in messenger .
as you like bye see you again.
-------Uday


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[Ashish Jaiman]

First of all XML is not a language its a more of a methodology for storing text data, XML is not proprietary, its open and anybody can use it its more of a concept to store data and transfer data in text format which can be understood but disparate systems, then there is XSL(T) which can be considered as a language to transform XML document to another XML document.
U can use XML with any language which can work with text files be it Java, C++, or VB(Microsoft), all u need is a parser (which u can write ur own in ur language of choice) to work.
Microsoft is not developing anything under the sleeves the things are in open like Dot Net that has XML underlying everywhere in the architecture and support for applications build to use XML, Web Services is what I think would be next major thing, where u can talk to disparate Programs, execute methods and get data as XML over HTTP (mainly)
Comparing JAVA to DOTNET would be pretty interesting as one of the main difference is JAVA applications are mostly platform neutral while applications in DOTNET would be Language neutral like write in ur preferable language and talk to different DOTNET languages, also In Java World there are both pros and cons of having so many vendors for ur enterprise application in Microsoft world One vendor (Microsoft) does it all and it has its own merits and demerits.
C# from Microsoft is a copy of Java but obviously more features and better in terms of GUI and Event handling (obvious because it took concepts from Java world and VB world). Similarly ASP DOT Net has more and better
I think in long run both Java and DOT Net would be winners as competition brings out the best.
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-AJ
Sun Certified Java Programmer
Microsoft Certified Software Developer

[Stanley Tan]

Sir,
I am a newbie here so please forgive me. I don't get it when you say you use XSL(T) to transform one XML document into another. Why would you want to do that? What is XSL?

[Ajith Kallambella]

Ashish has covered most of the important points. It is very important to understand what XML is not. It is not a language, it is not an application, it has no significance on its own existence as an individual entity. You can only make sense out of the XML data when you parse it and integrate the results with your application. Think of it as HTML. You can make sense out of it( unless you are ready to hurt your eyes reading between the lines in the raw HTML file ) only when you open it in the browser.
Stanley,
Since XML represents data, using XSL( eXtensible Stylesheet Language ), you can generate human-readable files in popular formats( HTML, text etc. ) XSLT( XSL Transformation ) is a process that converts an XML document into other readable format by applying the stylesheet you supply.
ie., XML + XSL -----> run it through XSLT ---> gerates human-readable XML( like HTML/text etc ).
Hope that helps!
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Ajith Kallambella M.
Sun Certified Programmer for the Java�2 Platform.
IBM Certified Developer - XML and Related Technologies, V1.