Mike Hudack is a tumblelog.

It’s a mouthful, but XBRL stands for eXtensible Business Reporting Language. It’s a programming language that essentially functions as a dictionary of terms that helps organize financial data. Just as scientists classify new organisms under certain taxonomies, XBRL allows accountants to classify financial metrics under agreed-upon categories. So, for example, when a company reports a particular figure for annual revenues, XBRL tags it in such a way that any computer can almost immediately find and categorize that figure as “annual revenues.

Embracing the Internet might salvage the SEC chairman’s legacy.

This is fantastic news for the public markets and for developers everywhere.