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The XML FAQ — Frequently-Asked Questions about the Extensible Markup Language

Section 1: Basics

Q 1.13: Does XML replace HTML?

No.

No. XML itself does not replace HTML. Instead, it provides an alternative which allows you to define your own set of markup elements. HTML is expected to remain in common use on the web, and the current versions of HTML (XHTML and HTML5) are in XML syntax.

XML is designed to make the writing of processing software much easier than with SGML, which is what the original HTML was based on.