OWLIntroduction

OWL is a language for processing Web information.

Basic Knowledge to Have Before Learning

Before you learn OWL, you should have a basic understanding of XML, XML Namespaces, and RDF.

If you want to learn these first, please visit:

Example Tutorial'sXML TutorialandRDF Tutorial。

What is OWL?

  • OWL refers to the Web Ontology Language.
  • OWL is built on top of RDF.
  • OWL is used to process information on the Web.
  • OWL is designed to be interpreted by computers.
  • OWL is not designed to be read by humans.
  • OWL is written in XML.
  • OWL has three sublanguages.
  • OWL is a Web standard.

What is Ontology?

The term "ontology" comes from philosophy; it is the study of the various entities in the world and how they are related.

For the Web, ontology is about precisely describing Web information and the relationships among Web information.

Why Use OWL?

OWL is part of the Semantic Web vision - the goal is:

  • Web information has a precise meaning.
  • Web information can be understood and processed by computers.
  • Computers can integrate information from the Web.

OWL is designed for computers to process information.

OWL is designed to provide a common method of processing the content of Web information (rather than displaying it).

OWL is designed to be read by computer applications (rather than by humans).

OWL Is Different from RDF

OWL has many similarities to RDF, but compared with RDF, OWL is a more powerful language with stronger machine interpretation capabilities.

Compared with RDF, OWL has a larger vocabulary and a more powerful language.

OWL Sublanguages

OWL has three sublanguages:

  • OWL Lite
  • OWL DL (includes OWL Lite)
  • OWL Full (includes OWL DL)

OWL Is Written in XML

By using XML, OWL information can be exchanged between different types of computers running different types of operating systems and application languages.

OWL Is a Web Standard

OWL became a W3C Recommendation in February 2004.

W3C Recommendations are regarded as Web standards by the industry and the Web community. W3C Recommendations are stable specifications developed by W3C working groups and reviewed by W3C members.

W3C documents about OWL:http://www.w3.org/2004/OWL/

Other Extensions