This tutorial explains the features and benefits of a Web format called RSS, and gives a brief technical overview of it. It also includes information on a similar format called Atom. The reader is assumed to have some familiarity with XML and other Web technologies. It is not meant to be exhaustive; for more information, see the ‘More Information about RSS’ section.

This is an informational document. Although technical in nature, it attempts to make the concepts involved understandable and applicable in real-world situations. Because of this, some aspects of the material are simplified or omitted, for the sake of clarity.