View source for OWL

{{RecPage
 | Rec=yes
 | Button=sw-owl-blue
 | Pubdate=2012-12-11
 | Previousdate=2009-10-27
 | WGName=OWL Working Group
 | WGURI=owl
 | Techname=owl
}}
= Web Ontology Language (OWL) =
== Overview ==
[[description::The W3C Web Ontology Language (OWL) is a Semantic Web language designed to represent rich and complex knowledge about things, groups of things, and relations between things.]] OWL is a computational logic-based language such that knowledge expressed in OWL can be exploited by computer programs, e.g., to verify the consistency of that knowledge or to make implicit knowledge explicit. OWL documents, known as ontologies, can be published in the World Wide Web and may refer to or be referred from other OWL ontologies. OWL is part of the W3C’s Semantic Web technology stack, which includes [[RDF]], [[RDFS]], [[SPARQL]], etc.

The current version of OWL, also referred to as “OWL 2”, was developed by the [[http://www.w3.org/2007/OWL/wiki/OWL_Working_Group W3C OWL Working Group]] (now closed) and published in 2009, with a Second Edition published in 2012. OWL 2 is an extension and revision of the 2004 version of OWL developed by the [[http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/WebOnt/ W3C Web Ontology Working Group]] (now closed) and published in 2004. The deliverables that make up the OWL 2 specification include a [http://www.w3.org/TR/2012/REC-owl2-overview-20121211/ Document Overview], which serves as an introduction to OWL 2, describes the relationship between OWL 1 and OWL 2, and provides an entry point to the remaining deliverables via a [http://www.w3.org/TR/2012/REC-owl2-overview-20121211/#Documentation_Roadmap Documentation Roadmap].

== Recommended Reading ==
As can be seen from the above mentioned [http://www.w3.org/TR/2012/REC-owl2-overview-20121211/#Documentation_Roadmap Documentation Roadmap], OWL 2 is normatively defined by five core specification documents describing its conceptual structure, primary exchange syntax (RDF/XML), two alternative semantics (Direct and RDF-Based), and conformance requirements. Three additional specification documents describe optional features that may be supported by some implementations: the language profiles, and two alternative concrete syntaxes (OWL/XML and Manchester).

These documents are, however, all rather technical and mainly aimed at OWL 2 implementers and tool developers. Those looking for a more approachable guide to the features and usage of OWL 2 may prefer to consult one of the user documents, which include a [http://www.w3.org/TR/2012/REC-owl2-primer-20121211/ Primer] and a [http://www.w3.org/TR/2012/REC-owl2-quick-reference-20121211/ Quick Reference Guide].

A number of textbooks have been published on OWL, and on Semantic Web in general. Please, refer to a [[Books|separate page]] listing some of those, as maintained by the community. That list also includes references to conference proceedings and article collections that might be of general interest.
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