XHTML Given the W3C Stamp of Approval
This new Web language has been around, but it hit the news last week as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C.org), an Internet standard-setter, gave the XHTML protocol its blessing. Touted as the next version of HTML, XHTML is the first step towards adoption of a modular and extensible Web language based on the XML standard. (
http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/)
XHTML 1.0 is specified in three "flavors".
- XHTML Transitional – Primarily for use in public access websites, Transitional takes advantage of XHTML features including style sheets but is also backward compatible for standard HTML web browsers.
- XHTML Strict – A pure form of XHTML, Strict creates a completely structural mark-up that makes no reference to layout. All layout mark-up is defined in the associated Cascading Style Sheets.
- XHTML Frameset – For use when designating the frameset of an XHTML document.
With XHTML, W3C hopes to create a bridge between the HTML and XML standards. XML stands for extensible mark-up language. It is a mark-up language that allows user-defined tags, or metatags, to define content according to it’s function rather than it’s placement or layout. or <summary> or <last_name> would all be good examples of XML tags.
<p>XML documents use XSL (eXtensible Style Sheets) to define how XML content is displayed. The combination of XML and XSL creates a web standard that can support platforms such as cell phones, televisions, cars, wallet sized wireless communicators, kiosks, and desktops.
<p>XHTML forms a bridge to XML by requiring all layout tags to be defined in the CSS document. Also, because XHTML is modular, it makes it easier to combine HTML documents with non-html content items such as vector graphics, multimedia, and e-commerce applications.
<h3>Have you written for a refrigerator before?</h3>
<p>With the advancement of XHTML/CSS and XML/XSL web designers will take on a new role. Rather than designing strictly webpages, designers will now be called upon to design internet interfaces for a wide variety of devices ranging from kitchen appliances to car-navigation systems.
<p>XHTML also attempts to cross the bridge between web and print media. Documents coded in XML can be published both online and in print.
<p>“Second, XHTML is designed for portability. web browsers have become behemoths of code bloat. You name it, there's code in the newest browsers to do it. But according to some estimates cited by the W3C, by 2002, 75 percent of web document viewing will be through non-desktop devices like palm computers, televisions, toasters, and other alternative platforms, not through browsers on PCs. Your web-enabled toaster will have less room for bloated code, and its browser will need to be able to count on standards-based documents. It may not be able to display current incarnations of HTML because of the non-standard code involved.” (
<a href="http://webreview.com/wr/pub/1999/07/16/feature/index.html" target="_new">
http://webreview.com/wr/pub/1999/07/16/feature/index.html</a>)
<h3>Difference Between HTML and XHTML Transitional:</h3>
<ul>
<li>XML is case-sensitive. All HTML element and attribute names must be in lowercase.
<li>All attribute values must be quoted
<li>All non-empty elements must be terminated
<li>Elements must nest, not overlap
<li>The <head> and <body> elements cannot be omitted.
<li>The <title> element must be the first element in the <head> element.
</ul>
<h3>Want to use XHTML immediately?</h3>
<p>Included in W3C’s specification release is a host of tools that can help you make the initial transitions from HTML to XHTML.
<p>Dave Raggett's HTML TIDY is a free utility to fix coding mistakes automatically and tidy up sloppy editing into nicely layed out markup. It is a highly recommended tool for anyone wanting to begin the document conversion from HTML to XHTML.
<p> Available from: <a href="http://www.w3.org/People/Raggett/tidy/" target="_new">
http://www.w3.org/People/Raggett/tidy/</a>.
<h3>XHTML Enjoys Wide Industry Support</h3>
<p>Many big Internet and Technology names have publicly announced their support and intention to use the new XHTML standard. The list of supporters includes: Ask Jeeves, Hewlett-Packard, HTML Writers Guild, IBM, Netscape, Opera and the <A href="http://www.web3d.org/" target="_new">Web3D Consortium</a>.
<p>This quotation from the Web3D Consortium characterizes the excitement of the Industry giants:
“The Web3D Consortium is a non-profit organization dedicated to the development and support of open standards for 3D graphics on the Web. We enthusiastically support XHTML advancement as a W3C Recommendation. Our concurrent efforts producing the Extensible 3D (X3D) Graphics specification benefit directly from XHTML progress. Authors will be able to produce rich multimedia content that includes X3D scenes, SVG, MathML, audio, video, and streaming events, all integrated compatibly within an XHTML hypermedia framework. We continue working with W3C activities to produce compatible and interoperable technologies.”
<br>
-- Don Brutzman, Vice President of Technology, <A href="http://www.web3d.org/" target="_new">Web3D Consortium</a>
<br>
<br>
<br><br>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
|
