XML is a software- and hardware-independent tool for storing and transporting data.

What is XML?

• XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language
• XML is a markup language much like HTML
• XML was designed to store and transport data
• XML was designed to be self-descriptive
• XML is a W3C Recommendation

The Difference Between XML and HTML

XML and HTML were designed with different goals:

• XML was designed to carry data - with focus on what data is
• HTML was designed to display data - with focus on how data looks
• XML tags are not predefined like HTML tags are

XML Simplifies Things

• XML simplifies data sharing
• XML simplifies data transport
• XML simplifies platform changes
• XML simplifies data availability

Many computer systems contain data in incompatible formats. Exchanging data between incompatible systems (or upgraded systems) is a time-consuming task for web developers. Large amounts of data must be converted, and incompatible data is often lost.

XML stores data in plain text format. This provides a software- and hardware-independent way of storing, transporting, and sharing data.

XML also makes it easier to expand or upgrade to new operating systems, new applications, or new browsers, without losing data.

With XML, data can be available to all kinds of "reading machines" like people, computers, voice machines, news feeds, etc.

Learn more here: https://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml_whatis.asp