- It's Markup
- It's SGML
- It's a Standard
- Design Goals
- XML shall be straightforwardly usable over the Internet
- XML shall support a wide variety of applications
- XML shall be compatible with SGML
- It shall be easy to write programs which process XML documents
- The number of optional features in XML is to be kept to the absolute minimum, ideally zero
- XML documents should be human-legible and reasonably clear
- The XML design should be prepared quickly
- The design of XML shall be formal and concise
- XML documents shall be easy to create
- Terseness in XML markup is of minimal importance