Atom

Atom is the newest entry to the syndication scene. Since its inception, Atom has received quite a bit of coverage and usage. Atom, unlike RSS, is a strict specification. One of the problems of the RSS spec is the lack of information on how a developer handles HTML markup in its elements. Atom's specification addresses this issue and gives developers strict rules they must follow, as well as a host of new features, enabling developers to choose the content type of an element and specify attributes that designate how a specific element should be handled. With such features, it is no wonder powerhouses like Google and Movable Type are getting behind Atom.

Atom resembles RSS somewhat; aside from the different element names, the document structure is also different:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding=" iso-8859-1"?>

<feed version="0.3" xmlns=" http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xml:lang=" en">
    <title>My Revenge</title>

    <link rel=" alternate" type=" text/html" href=" http://sithboys.com" />
    <modified>2005-06-30T15:51:21-06:00</modified>
    <tagline>Dedicated to having our revenge</tagline>
    <id>tag:sithboys.com</id>
    <copyright>Copyright (c) 2005</copyright>
    <entry>
        <title>At last!</title>
        <link rel=" alternate" type=" text/html" href="
            http://sithboys.com/atlast.htm" />
        <modified>2005-06-30T15:51:21-06:00</modified>
        <issued>2005-06-30T15:51:21-06:00</issued>
        <id>tag:sithboys.com/atlast</id>
        <author>
            <name>Darth Maul</name>
        </author>
        <content type=" text/html" xml:lang=" en" xml:base=" http://sithboys.com">
            At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have
            our revenge.
        </content>
    </entry>
</feed>

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