XML Interview Questions & Answers
Showing 10 of 40 questions | Page 2
Technical interview questions and answers are crucial in XML Interviews because XML is widely used for data storage, configuration, API communication, and document structuring. Many companies use XML as a standard format in web applications, making it an important topic in technical interviews. Companies like TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Cognizant, and Accenture often ask XML questions to check whether candidates understand syntax, DTD, XSD, parsing, and real-time use cases. This guide provides fully solved XML interview questions with simple explanations suitable for freshers, students, and job seekers. These questions will help you perform confidently in technical rounds and placement interviews.
Web developers working with markup languages should strengthen their foundation in HTML structure and XHTML standards for document formatting
Showing 10 of 40 questions
11. Does XML replace HTML?
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 for some time to come, and the current version of HTML is in XML syntax. XML is designed to make the writing of DTDs much simpler than with full SGML. (See the question on DTDs for what one is and why you might want one.)
12. Do I have to know HTML or SGML before I learn XML?
No, although it's useful because a lot of XML terminology and practice derives from two decades' experience of SGML.
Be aware that ‘knowing HTML is not the same as ‘understanding SGML. Although HTML was written as an SGML application, browsers ignore most of it (which is why so many useful things don't work), so just because something is done a certain way in HTML browsers does not mean it's correct, least of all in XML.
13. Is there an XML version of HTML?
Yes, the W3C recommends using XHTML which is ‘a reformulation of HTML 4 in XML 1.0. This specification defines HTML as an XML application, and provides three DTDs corresponding to the ones defined by HTML 4.* (Strict, Transitional, and Frameset).
The semantics of the elements and their attributes are as defined in the W3C Recommendation for HTML 4. These semantics provide the foundation for future extensibility of XHTML. Compatibility with existing HTML browsers is possible by following a sma
14. If XML is just a subset of SGML, can I use XML files directly with existing SGML tools?
Yes, provided you use up-to-date SGML software which knows about the WebSGML Adaptations TC to ISO 8879 (the features needed to support XML, such as the variant form for EMPTY elements; some aspects of the SGML Declaration such as NAMECASE GENERAL NO; multiple attribute token list declarations, etc).
An alternative is to use an SGML DTD to let you create a fully-normalised SGML file, but one which does not use empty elements; and then remove the DocType Declaration so it becomes a well-formed
15. Does XML let me make up my own tags?
No, it lets you make up names for your own element types. If you think tags and elements are the same thing you are already in considerable trouble: read the rest of this question carefully.
16. How do I create my own document type?
Document types usually need a formal description, either a DTD or a Schema. Whilst it is possible to process well-formed XML documents without any such description, trying to create them without one is asking for trouble. A DTD or Schema is used with an XML editor or API interface to guide and control the construction of the document, making sure the right elements go in the right places.
Creating your own document type therefore begins with an analysis of the class of documents you want to de
17. Can a root element type be explicitly declared in the DTD?
No. This is done in the document's Document Type Declaration, not in the DTD.
18. How does XML handle metadata?
Because XML lets you define your own markup languages, you can make full use of the extended hypertext features of XML (see the question on Links) to store or link to metadata in any format (eg using ISO 11179, as a Topic Maps Published Subject, with Dublin Core, Warwick Framework, or with Resource Description Framework (RDF), or even Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS)).
There are no predefined elements in XML, because it is an architecture, not an application, so it is not part of
19. Can I use Java to create or manage XML files?
Yes, any programming language can be used to output data from any source in XML format. There is a growing number of front-ends and back-ends for programming environments and data management environments to automate this. Java is just the most popular one at the moment.
There is a large body of middleware (APIs) written in Java and other languages for managing data either in XML or with XML input or output.
20. Can I still use server-side inclusions?
Yes, so long as what they generate ends up as part of an XML-conformant file (ie either valid or just well-formed).
Server-side tag-replacers like shtml, PHP, JSP, ASP, Zope, etc store almost-valid files using comments, Processing Instructions, or non-XML markup, which gets replaced at the point of service by text or XML markup (it is unclear why some of these systems use non-HTML/XML markup). There are also some XML-based preprocessors for formats like XVRL (eXtensible Value Resolution Langua