Understanding XML, XBRL, and Other Markup Languages
HTML, XML, XBRL what’s the difference? HTML and XML are both markup languages, but that’s where the similarities end. HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is a way of “tagging” text to cause it display in a certain way. For example, HTML tags are used for putting a heading here, starting a paragraph there and making that text bold (if you’re a blogger, you probably know some of the tags and how they are used). By contrast, XML (eXtensible Markup Language) was designed for storing and transporting data. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds are made possible by XML (if you don’t know what RSS feeds are and you like to follow certain Blogs or news sources, you should learn how to utilize RSS). XML (eXtensible Markup Language) and XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) are both markup languages used for structuring and representing data. Although they are similar in some ways, they serve different purposes and have different applications. Here's an overview of XML, XBRL, and so...