W3C

The RDF Working Group has published today a set of eight Resource Description Framework (RDF) Recommendations:

• “RDF 1.1 Concepts and Abstract Syntax” defines an abstract syntax (a data model) which serves to link all RDF-based languages and specifications. The abstract syntax has two key data structures: RDF graphs are sets of subject-predicate-object triples, where the elements may be IRIs, blank nodes, or datatyped literals. They are used to express descriptions of resources. RDF datasets are used to organize collections of RDF graphs, and comprise a default graph and zero or more named graphs.
• “RDF 1.1 Semantics” describes a precise semantics for the Resource Description Framework 1.1 and RDF Schema, and defines a number of distinct entailment regimes and corresponding patterns of entailment.
• “RDF Schema 1.1″ provides a data-modelling vocabulary for RDF data. RDF Schema is an extension of the basic RDF vocabulary.
• “RDF 1.1 Turtle: defines a textual syntax for RDF called Turtle that allows an RDF graph to be completely written in a compact and natural text form, with abbreviations for common usage patterns and datatypes. Turtle provides levels of compatibility with the N-Triples format as well as the triple pattern syntax of the SPARQL W3C Recommendation.
• “RDF 1.1 TriG RDF Dataset Language” defines a textual syntax for RDF called TriG that allows an RDF dataset to be completely written in a compact and natural text form, with abbreviations for common usage patterns and datatypes. TriG is an extension of the Turtle format.
• “RDF 1.1 N-Triples” is a line-based, plain text format for encoding an RDF graph.
• “RDF 1.1 N-Quads” is a line-based, plain text format for encoding an RDF dataset.
• “RDF 1.1 XML Syntax” defines an XML syntax for RDF called RDF/XML in terms of Namespaces in XML, the XML Information Set and XML Base.

Furthermore, the Working Group has also published four Working Group Notes:

• “RDF 1.1 Primer” provides a tutorial level introduction to RDF 1.1.
• The RDF 1.1 Concepts, Semantics, Schema, and XML Syntax documents supercede the RDF family of Recommendations as published in 2004. “What’s New in RDF 1.1″ provides a summary of the changes between the two versions of RDF.
• “RDF 1.1: On Semantics of RDF Datasets” presents some issues to be addressed when defining a formal semantics for datasets, as they have been discussed in the RDF 1.1 Working Group
• “RDF 1.1 Test Cases” lists the test suites and implementation reports for RDF 1.1 Semantics as well as the various serialization formats.

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