[SUMMARY #1] Why is there little usage of XML on the 'visible Web'?

["Costello, Roger L." <costello@mitre.org>]

Hi Folks,

 

Once again, many thanks for your outstanding comments.  Below I have tried to recap the core assertions.  I am sure that many of the assertions could be worded better or more precisely.  Please let me know.  And as always, I welcome your critique of the assertions.  /Roger

 

ASSERTION #1

There is little usage of XML on the visible Web.  That is, the information available to the end user (or his/her browser) is primarily in the form of (X)HTML, not XML.

ASSERTION #2

XML is not appropriate for the visible Web.  XML will continue to have limited usage on the visible Web.  As Len Bullard says, “XML is plumbing”. 

ASSERTION #3

On the visible Web, (X)HTML will continue to be the primary markup language for the foreseeable future. 

ASSERTION #4

The more a resource makes available its information (in an appropriate way) on the visible Web, the more useful and beneficial it becomes to the Web community. 

ASSERTION #5

Web services are part of the hidden Web, and are useful and beneficial to the Web community only to the extent they are able to contribute or facilitate the availability of information in an appropriate fashion to the visible Web. 

ASSERTION #6

Focus your main efforts on making information available on the visible Web in an appropriate fashion such that the benefits of doing so are maximized, and without introducing a detrimental impact.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

 

I gratefully acknowledge the outstanding comments from the following people:

 

Bryan Rasmussen

Chris Gray

Colin Muller

Dave Pawson

David Lyon

Derek Denny-Brown

Didier PH Martin

Doug Rudder

Elliotte Rusty Harold

Greg Alvord

Jim Fuller

Juan Gonzalez

Len Bullard

Michael Kay

Mukul Gandhi

Richard Salz

Sterling Stouden

Tei Oscar Vives

 

DEFINITION - VISIBLE WEB

The visible Web is the portion of the Web that produces information intended for human consumption.  In particular, this document focuses on the portion of the Web that produces information to be consumed by humans via a browser.  The visible Web is the portion of the Web that produces information that is available to search engines.

DEFINITION – HIDDEN (INVISIBLE) WEB

The hidden Web, on the other hand, is the portion of the Web that produces the information intended to be consumed by machines (i.e., machine-to-machine interaction).