The Mozilla Foundation and Opera Software collaborated on the document, which represents their "consensus" opinion in the context of standards for Web Applications, and Compound Documents. The working document of the draft specification is titled Web Forms 2.0 which is in its essence an extension of the way forms are defined in the existing HTML 4.01 forms chapter, though it will apply equally to XHTML (define) user agents as well. The proposed specifications include new attributes, DOM (define) interfaces and events for validation and dependency tracking as well as XML form submission and initialization. The specification also aims to document existing practices in the forms area that have not yet been officially standardized.

In the Web Design forum, Barmisdele asks the question that is often on the minds of the new Web Developer "I've learned HTML, now what?"

Don writes that XML in its entirety had become more complex than COM ever was. I disagree with this statement on its face. I agree that there is a huge family of specifications surrounding XML, but each specification is just built upon the XML foundation. If the intent of the post intends to point out that XML eclipses COM for complexity by sheer volume of implementations, then consider the lack of a standards body for COM implementations. If there were such a thing, maybe it can be represented by opening a new Visual Basic 6 project on a default installation of Windows XP and going to the Add References tab.

No, Mozilla does not natively support Data Islands, but you can mimic data islands in Mozilla using a little bit of script.

If you strip away the rants from Ted’s post and get to the core, he is basically saying that when you use XML, it forces the developer to impose a hierarchy to the data, which may or may not be the true structure of the data. In that regard, Ted is entirely correct. Over use of XML is just as bad as under use. We had the exact same problem in the 80’s and 90’s with relational databases (which still linger today). Everything was forced to fit into a relational model, even if it wasn’t relational in nature. (See DaveM's great lookup table debate - 4 Developers and a DBA or “Just a Couple Tables“)

Learn how to process XML documents with Java in this sample chapter from Core Web Programming. Larry Brown and Marty Hall show you how to use Java to process XML documents by using the Document Object Model (DOM), the Simple API for XML (SAX), and the Extensible Style sheet Language for Transformations (XSLT).

There have been several proposals to use XML in the field of Web services, but one of the most promising standards is SOAP: the Simple Object Access Protocol. This article introduces you to the SOAP protocol.

Kevin Dick focuses on the basic infrastructure used in many XML projects. Ensure that your projects have a strong foundation for success by learning when different components are necessary, and the issues in choosing a particular component.

From its basic elements and attributes to the concept of validation, David Gulbranson presents the building blocks of XML.

Big thanks to Micah Dubinko, Uche Ogbuji, Eric van der Vlist, Simon St.Laurent, Edd Dumbill, and the others who made XMLhack such a great resource over the last five years. I don't think I remember reading the very first XMLhack item when Edd originally posted it, but somewhere between that and the first one I ended up posting (geez, it's been more than three years ago now...), I became a devotee -- and feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to contribute to it.

Java has become the cross-platform language of choice; XML is becoming the data/object interchange mechanism of choice.

David continues his discussion of how XML is used in the configuration of GUI interfaces. He looks at Mozilla's XML-based User Interface Language (XUL) which allows you to write applications that run without any particular dependency on the choice of underlying operating system. This may seem strange at first, but you'll soon see that this Mozilla project offers powerful tools for GUI building that allow you to develop for an extensive base of installed users.

C.J. Date, one of the most influential names in the relational database world, had some harsh words about XML's encroachment into the world of relational databases in a recent article entitled Date defends relational model that appeared on SearchDatabases.com. Key parts of the article are excerpted below

Reading an XML document is a complicated, error-prone operation. Elliotte Rusty Harold discusses how to use an XML parser to read the document for you.

If you have ever wanted a way to make a quick change to the structure of an XML file then take a look at this example. XML Emend will allow you to edit both the structure and the data of an XML file using the ReadXml and WriteXml methods and the Table and Column properties of the System.Data.DataSet.

If you maintain a large amount of lists in various different formats and want to share these lists with coworkers XmlLists is what you need.

Learn about the SAX packages and the key JAXP libraries and classes that are required for creating and using a SAX parser. Also learn how to set up JAXP for different versions of Java, and create an application that uses a SAX parser.

Learn more about Namespaces in the XML family of specifications as this sample chapter addresses the fundamental aspects of the relationship between the two.

One way to assure that web pages get included in Overture and other search engines is to use XML to feed pages to them. But to assure good placement in search results, marketers still need to assure that their web pages have a lot of relevant content and links from other related web sites, warns Heather Lloyd-Martin, president and CEO of search marketing consultants SuccessWorks.

XML is often promoted as the standard format for exchanging data. But dig into how XML is actually being implemented by the database and tools vendors, and you will often find that XML is not necessarily being delivered in the interoperable way they might expect.