XML is the latest buzz-word on the internet. It's a rapidly maturing technology with powerful real-world applications, particularly for the management, display and organization of data. Together with its display language (XSL) and the standardized Document Object Model, it is essential technology for anyone looking for more efficient and cost effective ways of both managing and transferring data. The most well known applications are web related (especially with the latest developments in handheld web access - for which the technology is XML-based) But there are many other non-web based applications where XML is useful - for example as a replacement for (or to complement) traditional databases or for the transfer of financial information between businesses.