Atom Format Versus Atom Protocol

In my last post, I talked about
the Atom Standard:

The Atom Standard

A little review. Within the
Atom Standard, there are two
main branches, the format versus
the protocol.

At least, that's how I see it.
I'm new to this.

Here's the two branches:

1. Atom Syndication Format
2. Atom Publishing Protocol
   (AtomPub or APP)

I think that the choice of words
that makes one branch a format
and the other branch a protocol
is an interesting choice.

Choices matter. The choice of
protocol versus format
matters.

Here's a Wikipedia article that refers
to the Atom Syndication Format
as the Atom Format:

Atom (standard)

In explaining the Atom Format, the
article basically says that it is an
alternative to the RSS 2.0 Format.
In other words, the Atom Format has
emerged as a possible drop-in replacement
for the RSS 2.0 Format

I'm using language loosely here. When I
say drop-in replacement, I don't
mean that the two formats are precise
equivalents. I mean to say that they are
near equivalents.

I'm still learning more about the Atom
Format versus the Atom Protocol.

Suffice it to say, for now, that the
Atom Format is a feed format and the
Atom Protocol is something else.

Ed Abbott