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# XSL-FO Introduction * * * XSL-FO is used to format XML data for output. * * * ## Prerequisites Before you start learning XSL-FO, you should have a basic understanding of XML and XML namespaces. If you want to learn these topics first, please read our (#). * * * ## What is XSL-FO? * XSL-FO is a language for formatting XML data * XSL-FO stands for Extensible Stylesheet Language Formatting Objects * XSL-FO is based on XML * XSL-FO is a W3C Recommendation * XSL-FO is currently commonly referred to as XSL * * * ## XSL-FO is About Formatting XSL-FO is an XML-based markup language used to describe the formatting (information) for outputting XML data to screens, paper, or other media. * * * ## XSL-FO is Commonly Called XSL Why is there this confusion? Are XSL-FO and XSL the same thing? In a way, yes, but we need to explain: Styling involves both **transforming information** and **formatting information**. When the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) wrote their first XSL working draft, this draft included language syntax for both transforming and formatting XML documents. Later, the W3C working group split this original draft into separate standards: , the language for transforming XML documents * XSL or XSL-FO, the language for formatting XML documents , the language for navigating XML documents through elements and attributes The rest of this tutorial is about formatting XML documents: XSL-FO, also known as XSL. * * * ## XSL-FO is a Web Standard XSL-FO became a W3C Recommendation on October 15, 2001. It is commonly referred to as XSL. To read more about the W3C's XSL activity, please read our (#).