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…quick, then, before they hit the lights, a run-down on Mighty Atom Syndication.
Updated, 2008: And hit the lights they did. For sentimentality’s sake, I’ve reproduced the text of the original article below. This one was fun to write:
Mighty Atom: Really Similar Syndication?
Last time around, we took a look at the increasingly popular 
graphic, which developers use to signpost links to RSS (Really Simple Syndication) files. Well, RSS has a new competitor now: the upstart Atom Syndication Format.
Atom files can be recognized by their own cute-as-a-button button, 
. And whether you click or , you still get the same raw-looking XML markup — not quite fit for human consumption. All these cute buttons have a real and practical purpose, though: Site Syndication.
Those corresponding XML files are designed for audiences using the “news aggregators” — sort of like mini Web browsers — much favored by high-volume websurfers. Using a news aggregator, you can browse through the latest updates from a customized set of your favorite websites in just a fraction of the time it takes to do the same thing using Internet Explorer. Also, because syndication files follow a standardized XML-based format, they allow other sites to integrate your latest links and headlines into their pages, automatically.
So, what’s the difference between Atom Syndication and RSS?
It’s kinda like the difference between “newfangled” Philips screwdrivers and “old-fashioned” Slotted screwdrivers. A few fire-eatin’ types may spend their days trolling the rec.arts.woodworking forums, debating the differences of torque capacity thresholds, drill bit cam-out, patent history, and manufacturing-cost issues between these incompatible rivals. But most of us are more or less resigned to keeping both types of screwdrivers in our toolkits — we’ll use whichever one is handy and fits our needs.
Similarly, Atom Syndication and RSS are both tools designed to do the same basic job: advertise and distribute website content by creating machine-readable XML newsfeeds.
Chances are, your choice of syndication format will be influenced largely by your choice of Content Management System. Google’s Blogger, for example, pushes the nascent Atom format and includes a pre-built starter template for Atom feeds and Atom feeds only. (All this, even though Atom is still a work-in-progress, only at version 0.3.) Tripod’s Blog Builder tool, on the other hand, offers an RSS 2.0 generator.
Whether you’re invested in a CMS already or you’re still shopping around, it’s a good idea to have a working understanding of both technologies. We went over all the whys and hows of RSS in “Sharing Your Site With RSS,” so in the pages that follow, we’ll be focusing on Atom, starting with why people bothered to build another site syndication format in the first place.
posted by Jason 9:37 AM
