This part of the XAM? standard is a normative specification of the general architecture and semantics of the XAM API. It applies to programmers who are generating XAM applications in any programming language. It also applies to storage system vendors who are creating vendor interface modules (VIMs). This document uses an object model to describe syntax in examples; these examples are informative only. It is not a normative specification of the syntax of the XAM interfaces in any language binding. The normative specification of the syntax of the C language binding is defined in the XAM C API Specification [XAM-C-API]. The normative specification of the syntax of the Java language binding is defined in the XAM Java API Specification [XAM-JAVA-API].