XML is a way of adding intelligence to your documents. It lets you identify each element using meaningful tags and it lets you add information （"metatdata"） about each element.

　　XML is very much a part of the future of Web， and part of the future for all electronic information.

　　XML is a syntax for marking up data and it works with many other technologies to display and process information. It looks and feels very much like HTML.

　　XML isn't going to replace everything else you've already learned； it complements it and extends it.

　　XML isn't going to change the way your Web pages look. You'll still need to use CSS――Cascading Style Sheets―― （with XML） to define font colors or JavaScript （again， with XML） to make your images fly around. Yet XML will change the way you and others read documents and it will change the way documents are filed and stored. It's a new technology and you certainly don't need to use it in order to build a great Web site ―― but you will want to be aware of it as you look at the Web of the future.