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What is an XML namespace, and why do I need one?

April 26, 2017namespace XML

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What is an XML namespace, and why do I need one?

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“One of the original intentions of the namespace specification was to solve the problem of name collision.” (XML and Java, Second Edition, by Maruyama, et al., p.20) For example, in a business application’s XML documents, the expectation is that the element will contain a tickertape symbol from the NYSE, while in recipe XML documents, the expectation is that the element will contain “chicken,” “beef” or “vegetable” — the base ingredient of a cooking broth. The namespace provides context, or scoping for elements. Namespace declarations indicate the unique identifier for the namespace that disambiguates elements. Thus, the important requirements for a namespace URI are 1) uniqueness, and 2) it must be a valid URI. There is no requirement that a namespace URI be resolvable.