Mark Wilson I am the creator of TopXML. I am available for international and local (Australia) contracts. I am a Solution Architect/Business Analyst. I have worked in IT in several countries (NZ, Australia, South Africa, UK) building and training teams for government and very large non-governmental organizations. I am ex-Microsoft Consulting Services. I wrote the first book on Microsoft XML published in 2000 called XML Programming with VB and ASP. Most recently I have been building tools for the SEO industry. Ask me for a 37 point SEO health-checkup for your website.
An excerpt from New
Riders XHTML
by Chelsea Valentine and Chris Minnick.
Unless you've never created a Web page before, you're probably
interested in how to convert an existing HTML page to XHTML. The Web
has expanded to consist of an overwhelming number of Web pages-most
of which are created with HTML. Undoubtedly, many Web developers will
make the switch to XHTML before long. If you're one of these
developers, this chapter prepares you for the task.
Differences Between HTML and XHTML
To convert an HTML document to XHTML, you must first identify the
differences between the two languages. When it comes to these
differences, there are two fundamental truths that any Web developer
must understand:
HTML will not be
developed any further. XHTML 1.0 is what you need to learn.
XHTML is a
reformulation of HTML 4 in XML 1.0.
This section focuses on the differences between HTML and XHTML,
but as this discussion progresses, keep in mind that XHTML is just
the next evolutionary step in the HTML family. The elements used to
create an HTML Web page are the very same elements used to create an
XHTML Web page. XHTML is just a restatement of HTML goals in the form
of an open, extensible markup language based on XML.
Since late 1998, there has been a migration toward XML-related
technologies. The XML hype is no surprise. After all, XML gives
authors the capability to deliver standardized markup while
separating display from structure, which makes maintenance and
parsing much easier. In addition, XML allows you to define custom
vocabularies (in other words, create your own element tags). Who
wouldn't be chomping at the bit?
With the influx of portable Web-enabled browsers, there is another
reason authors are ready to tackle XML: strict, clean, standardized
code.
In the past, HTML did what was needed, but it's outlived its
usefulness. Most HTML documents are bloated with unnecessary code,
which makes it difficult to create pages compatible with
nonconventional platforms, such as handheld devices. Who wants to
force the user to mess with bloated-and yes, slow-pages? Bloated code
is just one of the many current limitations of HTML.
