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Re: [LUG] XHTML and HTML4.01 Strict

 

On Sunday 01 January 2006 4:25 pm, Ben Goodger wrote:

Please change the subject lines when you change the direction of the thread!!

> Matt,
>
> Ben, what's good about XHTML 1.1?
>
> XHTML is XML-HTML rather than SGML, and is stricter than HTML 4.01 (which
> Paul is using, or at least trying to.)

Only stricter in it's XML syntax compared to SGML syntax.

The main bugbear with XHTML is the insistence on <br/> - utterly pointless.

XHTML enforces </p> and </li> - which is nice - but this can be done by the 
validator for HTML too and it is certainly evident when these tags are not 
closed and you try to use CSS with them.

If anything, SGML (HTML 4.01) gives you a more thorough validation at W3C 
because of insufficiencies in the XHTML validator.

The W3C validator for XHTML comments:
Note: The Validator XML support has some limitations. 
http://openjade.sourceforge.net/doc/xml.htm

XHTML 1.0 or 1.1 is not particularly better than HTML 4.01, neither is HTML 
4.01 better than XHTML 1.1. They are just different. Horses for courses.

> XHTML 1.1 isn't particularly better 
> than 1.0 Strict (except for the modularisation),  but XHTML is generally 
> better than HTML 4.01.

Not true. XHTML has it's place but it is NOT a panacea. There is no need to 
change a valid HTML 4.01 page into XHTML1.1 and when starting a rewrite from 
scratch, the target standard should be chosen on individual circumstances or 
the method of generation - not which one is "better".

> See varying and many W3C information pages on this 
> subject.

I have, over a number of years. HTML 4.01 Strict is as good a target as XHTML 
1.1.

I use the two interchangeably. If I'm starting with an XML source, then XHTML 
is obviously the easiest export route. If I'm starting with vi and lynx, HTML 
4.01 Strict is the best target.

Take a browse through the codehelp site and you'll see what I mean - the 
validator icons clearly indicate which page uses which style. I don't know 
the ratio but it's probably fairly even.

Quibbling over XHTML 1.1 vs HTML 4.01 Strict makes about as much difference as 
whether you prefer serif over sans-serif fonts.

-- 

Neil Williams
=============
http://www.data-freedom.org/
http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/
http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/

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