What Is The Semantic Web?
The Semantic web is the future of search. It is a difficult concept to get a handle on, but we all have some experience with it. Universal search, site links, local search & maps - these are all examples of the move toward semantic web. The idea is to deliver a more comprehensive range of search results for a given query. Ideally this would include image, map, social media, etc. which are relevant to the searcher's intentions and give a fuller "answer" to their search question. On a more complicated level, semantic web consists of creating new programming languages - meta or machine languages - which will enable MySQL databases, web applications, software, execution files, etc., all begin to "speak" to one other.
A Semantic Web Version of our Homepage,
using RDFa (Resource Description Framework) markup,
a
subset of XML programming language.
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FOAF Markup: A Semantic Web Application
One example of a semantic web application is the FOAF (Friend of a Friend) markup. The .rdf file format is a subset of the XML programming language. Coding such as FOAF tries to help database protocols associate your web information with, for example, a friend's web information. The assumption here is that friends share psychological traits and similar interests. Therefore, if machines can "get into the heads" of your friends, they have a better chance of getting into your head, and delivering search results which are more relevent to you as an individual.
2 comments:
Statement that RDF is a subformat of XML is not correct and can sometimes cause misunderstandings.
RDF allows you to express statements about the things (e.g., FOAF would allow to say "X1 is a Person" and "X1 foaf:name John" which combined would express that someone is a person and his name is John) in an interoperable manner.
It can be expressed in XML, but need not necessarily be. Some other serializations of RDF (e.g., Turtle) are more readable.
Apologies if my explanation adds complexity. In fact, RDF is much easier to grasp if you do start with XML. That's why I am writing this comment.
See http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/SW-FAQ#whrdfxml
Thanks, Uldis, for the clarification. As with any new technology, it will take us all a while to fully understand and describe it. I'm still learning as much as I can about RDF and all its variants; SIOC; FOAF; XHTML. Explaining machine langauges isn't always easy.
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