Professional XML (Programmer to Programmer)

Specifications and tools can help you when processing RSS and Atom. In addition, see the preceding section on class libraries available for processing feeds.

• q RSS 2.0 specification. http://www.blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss

• q RSS 1.0 specification. http://www.web.resource.org/rss/1.0/spec

• q Atom 1.0 specification-IETF RFC 4287 (.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4287.txt). Although it reads like any official protocol document (don't read while operating heavy machinery, or when you shouldn't be sleeping), it is precise and informative.

• q FeedValidator-Online RSS/Atom validator (feedvalidator.org). You should always use this tool to test your feed before releasing it into the wild. It is capable of validating any of the common RSS feed versions, Atom, and many of the common extensions (such as Dublin Core). You can alternatively download and use this locally. It is written in Python.