COMP249: XML Assignment
In this assignment you will write a short essay on a topic related to XML. You will write the essay in an XML format and will also write a CSS stylesheet to allow the essay to be displayed. The assignment is due in week 13, Monday 2nd June.
The DTD file was missing definintions of 'em', 'strong' and 'code' elements meaning that your XML would not validate if you used these elements. I've updated article.dtd to include these elements.
The files required for this assignment are as follows:
- article.dtd a DTD for a simple article format. An article has sections, each with a title followed by zero or more para or pre elements. Do not modify this file.
- article.xml is a sample document that conforms to the DTD. You must replace the contents of this file with your essay. You must conform to the DTD so that you submit a valid XML file.
- article.css is a CSS stylesheet intended to define the layout of your essay. A reference to this file is already included in the sample article.xml file. This file is currently empty except for a comment. You must write at least a basic CSS stylesheet that allows your essay to be read.
The topic of your essay must be taken from the following list:
- XML: The Future of the Web? XML is becoming more important on the web but is it likely to replace HTML? Evaluate what you think the future of XML on the web will be.
- XML: Bloated and Irrelevant Some argue that XML is not a good solution for anything because it tries to be too general. Evaluate this argument; what is proposed as an alternative?
- The History of XML Identify some key drivers behind the development of XML and show how they affected the eventual design.
- The Atom vs. RSS debate Atom was designed as a replacement for RSS but there was a lot of politics involved in the process and currently they both exist side by side. Identify one or two design goals for Atom and describe how they were met in the final design. Alternately, identify some of the points made by advocates of RSS and describe the argument they made.
Your essay should be around 1000 words (quite short). The aim is that you perform a little bit of research and make one or two points backed up by citations, then draw a brief conclusion. You must include references to all websites used in your research at the end of the essay.
Your CSS design should enable the article.xml file to be viewed in your browser. I will use Firefox to mark the assignment so please test it on that platform to make sure it looks ok. You are aiming for a clear presentation of the essay rather than a flashy demonstration of CSS capabilities.
Assessment
This assignment is worth 10% of the final marks for COMP249. You will be assessed on the content of your essay, on the validity of your XML and on the CSS stylesheet that you write to display the essay.
Marking criteria for the assignment are:
- Writing Quality you will score well if you write well. Use sentences, spell correctly, etc.
- Argument and Referencing a good essay will present a good argument for or against a point and will reference material that you have relied on.
- Readability (CSS) you have written a CSS stylesheet that presents your essay well and makes it easy to read (eg. no garish colours or flashing text).
- Validity (XML) Your XML should be both well formed and valid. It will be checked against the DTD for validity.
- Creativity you may have been creative in your essay or in your CSS design.
Your final grade will be calculated based on your performance against the above criteria. It is not necessary to get a distinction against all criteria to get full marks for the assignment. As a guide, around half the marks will go towards your writing and half towards the validity of your XML and your CSS design. However if you excel at one or the other of these (the last criteria) that may balance poorer performance in the other.
Submission
The assignment is due in week 13, Monday 2nd June. You should submit your assignment via WebCT. Please be aware that there have been issues with files not being uploaded on WebCT. Please check that your submission is there and contact me if you think there might be a problem.
You will be uploading a zip file containing the three files above (article.xml, article.css and article.dtd) along with any other files you wish to include (eg. images). Select article.xml as the main file when you submit, this will allow us to see your work easily online when marking. Once you have submitted in this way, you should be able to view your own essay with the stylesheet applied.
Comments to Steve Cassidy