A few friends of mine and I are having an argument, and I thought I’d propose it to the Forum.
A technological detour is when technology goes down a certain path, and suddenly makes a drastic switch to another path that has nothing to do with the old one.
An example would be vacuum tubes. They existed for a long time, until the advent of transistors, which had absolutely nothing to do with vacuum tubes.
Another would be cassette tapes, which were supplanted by CDs, which were nothing like cassettes.
The argument we’re having is this: That HTML was nothing more than a technological detour, and that XML (including XHTML) has nothing to do with the old HTML.
Do you guys think this is true?
The argument we're having is this: That HTML was nothing more than a technological detour, and that XML (including XHTML) has nothing to do with the old HTML.
Do you guys think this is true?[/QUOTE]
Consider them the same at your own cost.[/QUOTE]
BTW, part of this technological detour argument was that HTML was, in retrospect, a mistake.[/QUOTE]Yes and that's just silly. A "mistake" can only be made when a choice is involved and HTML existed as the sole markup language for the web for several years before XML came on the scene. That's like saying the English settlers made a mistake in retrospect of using ships to travel to America because jet airliners are so much quicker.
Vacuum tubes still do a great job of sound amplification, using well-proven technology. Transitors are much more useful and practical than tubes for building complex circuits such as those used in computers. I see no reason to stop using one or the other, or claim that either is better, but simply select the best tool for the specific need.
HTML does a fine job of presenting documents on the web, using well-proven technology. XML/XHTML is more useful for creating more complex data interchange applications. I see no reason to stop using one or the other, or claim that either is better, but simply select the best tool for the specific need.[/QUOTE]
very similar programming languages can't be compiled by each other's compilers[/QUOTE]
Are HTML and XHTML at all related, beyond being markup languages, or are they utterly alien to each other?[/QUOTE]HTML is an SGML application. The same person who at IBM created SGML, created XML. What I don't know but I'm sure Charles does is whether XML is also an SGML application itself or a sibling of SGML. I.e. they're closely related in almost any way you'd care to make a comparison.
It took four.[/QUOTE]Sure. It was IBM. One guy to do the work and three to manage him. ?
The semantics of all the elements and attributes of HTML have already continued on through XHTML.[/QUOTE]
Few web browsers designed to run on devices other than computers can process HTML - they all expect XHTML. Since most pages designed using HTML would not be able to display anything usable in the small displays that many of these devices have this does not cause any significant problem. As more people use such devices to access the web the web page authors will need to rethink their strategy. I think that HTML will eventually die a natural death but it will be later rather than sooner.[/QUOTE]
XHTML is a family of current and future document types and modules that reproduce, subset, and extend HTML 4 [HTML4].
[/QUOTE]
XHTML is a reincarnation of HTML, that really is the best way to put it.[/QUOTE]
How does HTML vs. XHTML have any relation to the size of a device's display?[/QUOTE]
It is not so much that one supports small display screens and the other doesn't, it is more a matter of the thinking of those who use XHTML rather than HTML for creating their web pages.[/quote]Ok. In your previous posting it sounded as though you were implying that the languages themselves are favored one way or the other. I'm glad you clarified that it is in fact a result of the user base for each language.
Has anyone ever heard of HTML 3.5? One of my college aquaintances said it was the most recent version of HTML he'd downloaded.[/quote]
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