[[edit source](/w/index.php?title=Semantic_Web&action=edit&section=11 "Edit section's source code: Components")] The term "Semantic Web" is often used more specifically to refer to the formats and technologies that enable it.[[5]](#cite_note-W3C-SWA-5) The collection, structuring and recovery of linked data are enabled by technologies that provide a [formal description](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Description_logic "Description logic") of concepts, terms, and relationships within a given [knowledge domain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_domain "Knowledge domain"). These technologies are specified as W3C standards and include: * [Resource Description Framework](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_Description_Framework "Resource Description Framework") (RDF), a general method for describing information * [RDF Schema](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RDF_Schema "RDF Schema") (RDFS) * [Simple Knowledge Organization System](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Knowledge_Organization_System "Simple Knowledge Organization System") (SKOS) * [SPARQL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPARQL "SPARQL"), an RDF query language * [Notation3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notation3 "Notation3") (N3), designed with human readability in mind * [N-Triples](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-Triples "N-Triples"), a format for storing and transmitting data * [Turtle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_(syntax) "Turtle (syntax)") (Terse RDF Triple Language) * [Web Ontology Language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Ontology_Language "Web Ontology Language") (OWL), a family of [knowledge representation languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_representation_language "Knowledge representation language") * [Rule Interchange Format](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_Interchange_Format "Rule Interchange Format") (RIF), a framework of web rule language dialects supporting rule interchange on the Web * [JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON-LD "JSON-LD") (JSON-LD), a JSON-based method to describe data * [ActivityPub](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ActivityPub "ActivityPub"), a generic way for client and server to communicate with each other. This is used by the popular decentralized social network [Mastodon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon_(software) "Mastodon (software)"). The [Semantic Web Stack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_Web_Stack "Semantic Web Stack") illustrates the architecture of the Semantic Web. The functions and relationships of the components can be summarized as follows:[[37]](#cite_note-37) * XML provides an elemental syntax for content structure within documents, yet associates no semantics with the meaning of the content contained within. XML is not at present a necessary component of Semantic Web technologies in most cases, as alternative syntaxes exist, such as [Turtle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_(syntax) "Turtle (syntax)"). Turtle is a de facto standard, but has not been through a formal standardization process. * [XML Schema](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W3C_XML_Schema "W3C XML Schema") is a language for providing and restricting the structure and content of elements contained within XML documents. * RDF is a simple language for expressing [data models](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_model "Data model"), which refer to objects ("[web resources](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_resource "Web resource")") and their relationships. An RDF-based model can be represented in a variety of syntaxes, e.g., [RDF/XML](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RDF/XML "RDF/XML"), N3, Turtle, and RDFa. RDF is a fundamental standard of the Semantic Web.[[38]](#cite_note-38)[[39]](#cite_note-39) * RDF Schema extends RDF and is a vocabulary for describing properties and classes of RDF-based resources, with semantics for generalized-hierarchies of such properties and classes. * OWL adds more vocabulary for describing properties and classes: among others, relations between classes (e.g. disjointness), cardinality (e.g. "exactly one"), equality, richer typing of properties, characteristics of properties (e.g. symmetry), and enumerated classes. * SPARQL is a protocol and query language for semantic web data sources. * RIF is the W3C Rule Interchange Format. It is an XML language for expressing Web rules that computers can execute. RIF provides multiple versions, called dialects. It includes a RIF Basic Logic Dialect (RIF-BLD) and RIF Production Rules Dialect (RIF PRD).

{
  "evidence_unit_id": "unit:2fc49185f2c8d0af0f7a:7b12be43febc6e18259d:1:4e4c328ea2f3ba040723",
  "artifact_id": "artifact:2fc49185f2c8d0af0f7a:ded8befd85127fca1b40",
  "text": "[[edit source](/w/index.php?title=Semantic_Web&action=edit&section=11 \"Edit section's source code: Components\")]\n\nThe term \"Semantic Web\" is often used more specifically to refer to the formats and technologies that enable it.[[5]](#cite_note-W3C-SWA-5) The collection, structuring and recovery of linked data are enabled by technologies that provide a [formal description](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Description_logic \"Description logic\") of concepts, terms, and relationships within a given [knowledge domain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_domain \"Knowledge domain\"). These technologies are specified as W3C standards and include:\n\n* [Resource Description Framework](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_Description_Framework \"Resource Description Framework\") (RDF), a general method for describing information\n* [RDF Schema](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RDF_Schema \"RDF Schema\") (RDFS)\n* [Simple Knowledge Organization System](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Knowledge_Organization_System \"Simple Knowledge Organization System\") (SKOS)\n* [SPARQL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPARQL \"SPARQL\"), an RDF query language\n* [Notation3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notation3 \"Notation3\") (N3), designed with human readability in mind\n* [N-Triples](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-Triples \"N-Triples\"), a format for storing and transmitting data\n* [Turtle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_(syntax) \"Turtle (syntax)\") (Terse RDF Triple Language)\n* [Web Ontology Language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Ontology_Language \"Web Ontology Language\") (OWL), a family of [knowledge representation languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_representation_language \"Knowledge representation language\")\n* [Rule Interchange Format](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_Interchange_Format \"Rule Interchange Format\") (RIF), a framework of web rule language dialects supporting rule interchange on the Web\n* [JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON-LD \"JSON-LD\") (JSON-LD), a JSON-based method to describe data\n* [ActivityPub](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ActivityPub \"ActivityPub\"), a generic way for client and server to communicate with each other. This is used by the popular decentralized social network [Mastodon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon_(software) \"Mastodon (software)\").\n\nThe [Semantic Web Stack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_Web_Stack \"Semantic Web Stack\") illustrates the architecture of the Semantic Web. The functions and relationships of the components can be summarized as follows:[[37]](#cite_note-37)\n\n* XML provides an elemental syntax for content structure within documents, yet associates no semantics with the meaning of the content contained within. XML is not at present a necessary component of Semantic Web technologies in most cases, as alternative syntaxes exist, such as [Turtle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_(syntax) \"Turtle (syntax)\"). Turtle is a de facto standard, but has not been through a formal standardization process.\n* [XML Schema](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W3C_XML_Schema \"W3C XML Schema\") is a language for providing and restricting the structure and content of elements contained within XML documents.\n* RDF is a simple language for expressing [data models](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_model \"Data model\"), which refer to objects (\"[web resources](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_resource \"Web resource\")\") and their relationships. An RDF-based model can be represented in a variety of syntaxes, e.g., [RDF/XML](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RDF/XML \"RDF/XML\"), N3, Turtle, and RDFa. RDF is a fundamental standard of the Semantic Web.[[38]](#cite_note-38)[[39]](#cite_note-39)\n* RDF Schema extends RDF and is a vocabulary for describing properties and classes of RDF-based resources, with semantics for generalized-hierarchies of such properties and classes.\n* OWL adds more vocabulary for describing properties and classes: among others, relations between classes (e.g. disjointness), cardinality (e.g. \"exactly one\"), equality, richer typing of properties, characteristics of properties (e.g. symmetry), and enumerated classes.\n* SPARQL is a protocol and query language for semantic web data sources.\n* RIF is the W3C Rule Interchange Format. It is an XML language for expressing Web rules that computers can execute. RIF provides multiple versions, called dialects. It includes a RIF Basic Logic Dialect (RIF-BLD) and RIF Production Rules Dialect (RIF PRD).",
  "access_class": "public",
  "heading": "Components",
  "observed_at": "2026-07-18T21:40:59.214Z",
  "state": "active"
}