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Joy Gems Newsletter

The Future of (X)HTML

By Bud Kraus
bud@joyofcode.com
Joy Of Code
Creator And Instructor

v4 i4
Originally Published: February 21, 2008

When you see the x in a parentheses in front of html these days it's come to mean both xhtml or html. And for this Joy Gems that certainly holds true.

First, what's the difference? For most of us, not much. Yes, there are significant technical differences between the two. These largely stem from the fact that HTML is an offspring of SGML, Standardized General Markup Language. SGML is the underpinning of many desktop applications, such as Word. XHTML is a child of XML, or Extensible Markup Language, the mother of many Internet applications being developed by the W3C.

From a practical standpoint, XHTML is more exacting than HTML. Many know that XHTML is always in lowercase and that all tags must be closed. HTML, for various reasons, seems to have fostered sloppier web page markup.

Several years ago, I created my online workshop, "Introduction To XHTML and CSS. " At that time I thought - and it was told to me by the markup mavens - that HTML had run its course. It was being replaced with XHTML, described as a reformulation of HTML. I thought that XHTML would forever replace HTML.

Wrong.

Now I see that the W3C is pursuing a dual track by developing both XHTML and HTML. Work on a 5th version of HTML is underway and, while it will be a few years before it may be the standard, here are some of the things that make HTML 5.0 different from 4.01.

New Tags

  • <section> will be used as a generic document or application section. It will be used together with h1-h6 to indicate the document structure.
  • <article> will be an independent piece of content of a document, such as a blog entry or newspaper article.
  • <aside> will be used for a piece of content that is only slightly related to the rest of the page.
  • <header> will be used for a header of a section.
  • <footer> will be used for a footer of a section and can contain information about the author, copyright information, et cetera.
  • <nav> will be used as a section of the document intended for navigation.
  • <dialog> will be used to mark up a conversation.

I'm bummed. I wish I could use these tags right now to more appropriately mark up my content. I lifted the above info liberally from "HTML 5 differences from HTML 4" which also includes the new HTML attributes they're working on.

As for what's doing with XHTML 2.0, that, like HTML 5.0, is under development. Many changes will take place as it makes its way towards W3C Recommendation status (i.e., a standard). If it makes it all the way, we're looking at 2010 or so.

Here are some of the new things I found interesting about XHTML 2.0:

  • The use of the <nl> tag for a navigation list as in this example rather than just using <ul>.
  • Any element can now be used to make a hyperlink rather than only the anchor (<a>) tag. That means you'll be able to do this <li href="index.html>Home</li> instead of this <li><a href="index.html">Home</a></li>.

Sweet. It's a little geeky but see Major Differences with XHTML 2.0.

I just wish the W3C would make up its mind for everyday yodels like me and develop HTML or XHTML but not both. Oh well!