Using CDATA in Ajax

XML is a very powerful tool in building an efficient Ajax based application. Developers usually prefer XML as the mark-up language over other mark-up tools because of its ability to adapt to different browsers without being too heavy or require heavy resources.

It is also one of the oldest mark-up languages so familiarity is already there. It can work with JavaScript wherein the end result is a very impressive Ajax based application.

But XML by itself is not a perfect mark-up tool. There are limitations that every developer should remember about XML. Among the limitations is continuous parsing of XML.

Although this is the primary work of XML, there are times that a data should be treated as data without any parsing. If the data would be parsed through a mark-up tool, it will not come out as expected by developers.

For this reason, another type of mark-up tool should be used. In the case of XML, the common tool used to prevent data from parsing is the CDATA or the Character Data.

Simply put, this form of tool added in XML will inform the browser to make an exemption on the data provided. Instead of parsing the entire data, CDATA will prevent XML to fully parse the section.

As part of XML, CDATA is implemented inside the said mark-up tool. The data that should be regarded as part of CDATA starts with the following code:

<![CDATA]

If this is your first time in dealing with CDATA, you will certainly find the coding of CDATA to be truly unique as it uses different characters to enable the said function. But you have to consider these characters since XML has already used the popular characters. By using unique characters, CDATA would be very easy to notice and the browser will not have a hard time dealing with the said function.

Advantages of CDATA

Exempting data from parsing in XML has many advantages. One of the advantages is to enable the data entered by developers to be properly interpreted by JavaScript. Instead of changing the data provided, it will be used without any limitations.

The character data is also a unique type of data to be considered in an Ajax based application. Since it will be provided without any alternations, it could help developers simplify the application. Character data will easily improve the application without asking much in terms of coding.

Last but not the least, using CDATA in the application will help the application “breathe” in terms of allowing XML to focus on parsing the right elements. If XML has to deal with data that is supposed to be part of CDATA, the application will have a hard time implementing the said data.

Limitations on CDATA

CDATA cannot just be used freely in terms of placing as many characters as developers want. Character data is limited per implementation in terms of the number of characters that should be used. This ensures that the application will work as expected without being dragged down by too many exemptions in the Ajax based application.