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>