Appendix B. Guide to Reading the XML Recommendation

In this appendix

Why Reference is Important

The W3C Recommendation Process

Standards Relationships

XML Design Goals

Reading the Specification

Discussion of XML 1.0 Recommendation

In order for a new technology to succeed widely, it needs to achieve a critical mass of users. If the technology fails to achieve enough supporters to keep the technology going, slowly, but surely, it will die off.

One of the mechanisms that can be employed to aid in adoption is standardization. By adopting a standard for implementing new technologies, businesses can be assured that they are using technology correctly, and that their implementations of a technology will be compatible with other vendors and clients.

Implementing standards can be an arduous process. It involves bringing together experts in a technology, representatives from industry in some type of committee, and then reaching a consensus about how a technology should be defined.

And as if that were not trouble enough, there is also the matter of defining the technology in a clear and concise language. The standard that is eventually adopted needs to be as clear as possible to avoid differing interpretations of the standard, which would result in incompatibilities.

Unfortunately, if standards are not your core business, keeping up with them can be a chore. Not only can waiting for a standard cause delays in your implementation, but they can also be difficult to read.

That is why I have included this appendix: to give you an overview of how the XML Recommendation (and related standards) is created, how you can best work with them, and how to read and implement the final standard. You might be able to work with XML for a long time without ever looking at the XML Recommendation. But if you do need to consult the recommendation, hopefully this will help you make sense of it.