Blackwell Reference Online

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Markup languages are used to define the content of files that are exchanged between different applications or different users. They are very important because they define the format and meaning of strings of characters or text within documents that are communicated within or between organizations. These documents can be as large as operations manuals for the maintenance of aircraft or as brief as shipping notes. In the absence of a markup language, each message or document would need to individually describe how the strings of characters being exchanged should be interpreted. The markup language is a standard way to describe the content of a range of documents. Without a markup language, for example, a document containing a financial report would need significant descriptive information to explain the elements of the report. The standard knowledge structures delineated in a markup language can be applied to a host of such reports. There are many markup languages; the most significant are those accepted as standards. Some are limited in scope and use; others are broad and extensible. For example, HTML (hypertext markup language) is a standard markup language for Internet pages that interconnect with other pages. HTML has a static set of tags (tagset) that are primarily concerned with how to represent information on computer displays and how to link together a wide variety of Internet‐based ... log in or subscribe to read full text