A predefined XML tag for character data that means “don’t interpret these characters,” as opposed to parsed character data (PCDATA), in which the normal rules of XML syntax apply. CDATA sections are typically used to show examples of XML syntax.
In the context of advanced Java or XML (eXtensible Markup Language), CDATA stands for Character Data. CDATA is a way to include blocks of text in an XML document without having to escape special characters such as <, >, or &.
CDATA sections are defined by enclosing the text within <![CDATA[ and ]]> markers. For example:
<description><![CDATA[This is a CDATA section with special characters like <, >, and &.]]></description>
In the above example, any characters within the CDATA section will be treated as character data and won’t be parsed as XML elements. This is particularly useful when you have large amounts of text or code snippets that may contain characters that would otherwise be treated as XML markup.
In the context of advanced Java programming, you might encounter CDATA when working with XML parsing and manipulation, as it provides a way to include text content without worrying about XML escaping rules.