Empty Elements : Well Formed « Introduction « XML Tutorial

1. XML Tutorial
2. Introduction
3. Well Formed

Sometimes an element has no PCDATA. 


<name nickname='007'> 
    <first>James</first> 
    <middle></middle <!--James does not have middle name -->  > 
    <last>Bond</last> 
</name> 

You can write this element using a self-closing tag: 

<middle/> 

The / and > always have to be together

<middle /> or this  <middle/> 

but not like this <middle/ > or this <middle / > 

Empty elements are used for elements with no PCDATA but attributes. 

<name first="Bond" 
      middle="James" 
      last="Last"/>