Handling Data - Data Points: Visualization That Means Something - page 41

ExTENSIbLE MArkuP LANGuAGE (xML)
XML is another popular format on the web, often used to transfer data via
APIs. There are lots of different types and specifications for XML, but at
the most basic level, it is a text document with values enclosed by tags.
For example, the Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed that people use to
subscribe to blogs, such as FlowingData, is actually an XML file, as shown
in Figure 2-7.
The RSS lists recently published items enclosed in the <item></item> tag,
and each item has a title, description, author, and publish date, along with
some other attributes.
FIGurE 2-7 Snippet of FlowingData's RSS feed