Notation3, or N3 as it is more commonly known, is a shorthand non-
XML
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing arbitrary data. It defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable ...
serialization of
Resource Description Framework The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standard originally designed as a data model for metadata. It has come to be used as a general method for description and exchange of graph data. RDF provides a variety of ...
models, designed with human-readability in mind: N3 is much more compact and readable than XML RDF notation. The format is being developed by
Tim Berners-Lee and others from the
Semantic Web community. A formalization of the logic underlying N3 was published by Berners-Lee and others in 2008.
N3 has several features that go beyond a serialization for RDF models, such as support for RDF-based rules.
Turtle
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...
is a simplified, RDF-only subset of N3.
Examples
The following is an RDF model in standard XML notation:
Tony Benn
Wikipedia
may be written in Notation3 like this:
@prefix dc: .
dc:title "Tony Benn";
dc:publisher "Wikipedia".
This N3 code above would also be in valid
Turtle
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...
syntax.
Comparison of Notation3, Turtle, and N-Triples
See also
*
N-Triples
N-Triples is a format for storing and transmitting data. It is a line-based, plain text serialisation format for RDF (Resource Description Framework) graphs, and a subset of the Turtle (Terse RDF Triple Language) format. N-Triples should not be ...
*
Turtle (syntax)
In computing, Terse RDF Triple Language (Turtle) is a syntax and file format for expressing data in the Resource Description Framework (RDF) data model. Turtle syntax is similar to that of SPARQL, an RDF query language. It is a common data format ...
External links
Notation 3 W3C Submission
on ''W3C
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web. Founded in 1994 and led by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations that maintain full-time staff working to ...
Design Issues'' by Tim Berners-Lee
Notation 3 Primer
''Getting into RDF & Semantic Web using N3''
A Rough Guide to Notation3An editing mode of N3 for vimAn editing mode of N3 for textmateEulerGUI
an IDE centered on N3 editor with translation from RDF, with validation, prefix management, uploading of resources, graph view, table view, etc.
References
{{Reflist
Resource Description Framework
Computer file formats