XML or Extensible Markup Language is a markup language that is defined by a set of rules created by W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). The format is readable by both humans and computers and is designed primarily for generating documents and data structures. It is primarily used in web development and API (Application Programming Interfaces) to help web and software developers create and process XML data and schemas.
The XML format uses tags, elements and attributes that build the layout and design of a document or schema. The terms are explained as follows:
- Tag –An XML tag includes start (
), end ( ) and emptytags. - Element –The elements of XML are the content between the start and end tags.
- Attribute – The attributes are name/value pairs between the start and end tags, for example
<img src=”image.gif”>. The attribute here is src.
On the Magento® eCommerce platform, XML is used primarily for designing themes.
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