Re: Validation <Great Question !>

I really expect more from you, Fuzzy...are you tired today?  :)

XHTML is a move toward standardizing the basic language we use to
disseminate information over the Internet (including the Web.)
HTML has managed to (incredibly) allow us to reach out and present
information across the globe...a wonderful sharing that
encompasses, ideally, the whole human race.  Makes me glow to
think about it...:).

If all we did was present text to each other's
browsers...documented archives with basic formats...we wouldn't
really need to worry about XHTML or CSS...or font tags, either.  H
tags and P tags would do fine.

Commercialization has struck, though, and so has rapidly advancing
technology.  We need finer control over displays, we need to
present our data to cell phones and browsers and televisions and
whatever the next few years bring.  HTML is stretched too
thin...it was never designed to accomplish anywhere near what it
manages now and to continue to overwork it makes for sloppy hacks.

XHTML is a move toward and a subset of XML...an extensible meta
language that can be adapted as needs change.  It allows you to
mark up your information once and then deliver it to different
platforms by simply switching the stylesheet controlling the
presentation.  XML also has other advantages, such as built-in
linking capabilities, that impress me, anyway...:).

There is no immediate material or operational advantage to
validating a small web site to XHTML.  The only advantage worth
noting is that the time you spend today will certainly help you be
better prepared for tomorrow.

(of course, as browsers advance, your present design may not adapt
well to the more compliant software...I guess that counts as an
advantage!)

D


----- Original Message -----
From: "Captain F.M. O'Lary" <ctfuzzy(at)canopy.net>

At 11:20 AM 2/2/01 -0500, Michael Lessar wrote:
>What benefit will I gain if I validate to XHTML vs HTML.
>
>Thanks

*At this time* virtually none what-so-ever.

A year from now however, you **may** be very happy you did
validate to
XHTML . . . well . . . that is if you overlook the fact that XHTML
is it's
self transitional - from what I read.

Clear as mud on a dark night, right?

Isn't the life of a web developer boring and mundane? I have the
sudden
urge to go out and do something exciting - like jump off a very
high bridge.

;-)
Fuzzy.

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