Understanding XML in 15 Seconds (or Less!)

Q. I've tried reading the (XML | SGML | XSL | XPATH | DSSSL | ...)
specification, but it doesn't make any sense! There's too
much jargon!

A. Specification authors deliberately obfuscate the text of
ISO and W3C standards to ensure that normal people
(e.g., Perl programmers) can't use the technology without
assistance from the so-called "experts" who designed the
specs.

Fortunately, there is a handy translation table you can use:

    --------------------------------------------------

    ISO/W3C terminology			Common name

    --------------------------------------------------

    attribute                       tag

    attribute value                 tag

    attribute value literal         tag

    attribute value specification   tag

    character reference             tag

    comment                         tag

    comment declaration             tag

    declaration                     tag

    document type declaration       tag

    document type definition        tag

    element                         tag

    element type                    tag

    element type name               tag

    entity                          tag

    entity reference                tag

    general entity                  tag

    generic identifier              tag

    literal                         tag

    numeric character reference     tag

    parameter entity                tag

    parameter literal               tag

    processing instruction          tag

    tag                             command

    --------------------------------------------------

With the help of this table, even Visual Basic programmers
should have no trouble deciphering ISO prose.