XML(eXtensible Markup Language) is generic a data format for representing structured textual data by using tags and attributes (similar to HTML) to delimit and describe text data. XML, however, is much more general than HTML. HTML is for describing a web page. XML is for describing any thing. SVG for example, is an XML document that describes a graphical illustration, with tag names like LINE and PATH. XML is a successor to an older technology called SGML.