XML/SOAP

XML - Short for Extensible Markup Language, a specification developed by the W3C. XML is designed especially for Web documents. It allows designers to create their own customized tags, enabling the definition, transmission, validation, and interpretation of data between applications and between organizations.

SOAP - SOAP is a standard for exchanging XML-based messages over a computer network or the internet, normally using HTTP. SOAP is a foundation layer of web services, providing a framework that more abstract business layers can build on.