The promise of SGML is that if you separate form from content a miracle occurs.
Data integrity is preserved across platforms, applications, and soup recipes.
The reality is a return to the bad old days of proprietary hardwired solutions. Appreciating what SGML brings to the table requires an understanding both of its origins and of its characteristics. SGML is not what it appears to be at first glance. Standards Standards allow us to share. They provide the framework for an agreement on how we exchange a number of things like information, ideas, goods and, of course, money.