While researching a new web site idea, I found myself needing a better understanding of feeds. I knew
surprisingly little about them for someone who sees himself as a fairly experienced web developer. So
after doing some reading, I decided to write a small blog post about the basics of the technology behind
feeds. Here you'll find what Atom and RSS are, and a basic explanation of the difference.
There are two different formats for feeds, or web feeds, that are used today, RSS and Atom. Both are standardized XML file formats, Atom's called
Atom Syndication Format
and
RSS' called
Really Simple Syndication
.
Programs called feed readers take these files as input, and output their content in a human readable
form. Most internet browsers have feed readers built in. Most of these feed readers also allow feed
subscription, where a feed is essentially bookmarked so it can be tracked as it is updated. They come in
many forms, from web-based to desktop-based.
RSS is more widely used than Atom despite some downsides. I don't think anyone would disagree with the
statement that Atom is a more powerful version of RSS. Atom came into existance out of a need to improve
RSS. Without having much experience with Atom and RSS, the differences between the two seem to be small
and of smaller significance. However, with use, I'd come to appreciate some of the new features of
Atom.
All in all, they are simply two competing formats with slightly difference syntax and features, like XML
and JSON.
Atom has had some trouble being adopted, I assume primarily because RSS is in such wide use today.
Whereas many sites publish both RSS and Atom formats, many still use just RSS. Also, RSS is often used to
refer to both RSS and Atom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom_(standard)
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/03/30/rss-vs-atom-whats-the-big-deal
