DOCTYPE Statements --Oh Boy!!

by "Ted Temer" <temer(at)c-zone.net>

Date:	Wed, 27 Sep 2000 09:46:56 -0700
To:	<hwg-basics(at)mail.hwg.org>
References:	sportsstuff canopy
	todo: View Thread, Original

Fuzzy:

You said:
>>>SNIP<<<<
> For the sake of (my) being anal, that means: ALL HTML documents
~~require~~
> a DTD statement.
>
> That gang, is not an opinion.
 >>>>>SNIP<<<<<

Sorry Fuzzy, I beg to disagree. Granted there are one or two other supposed
features of a DOCTYPE statement but it's primary "practical" use is to tell
a Validator what "standard" to validate against.

It is certainly NOT used because browsers require it. Browsers do not need a
DOCTYPE statement to read HTML--and they never have.

All they need to read HTML is to be told the file is in fact HTML. And--As a
matter of practicality, every DOCTYPE statement MUST include HTML in some
manner.

Therefore, the minimum requirements for a "valid" HTML document that will
show in all browsers since dinosaurs is the following:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>
Optional if you want a title to appear at the top of the browser
</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
</BODY>
</HTML>

And to get down to absolute minimum, in theory at least, the Head section
could be omitted with the loss of some functionality of course.

Those who constantly look at Source Code will know that I speak the truth
here as thousands of web sites in constant use--including some of the most
prestigious--have no DOCTYPE statement and never have.

Now--having said all that--I would be one of the first to agree that DOCTYPE
statements may indeed have an occasional use.

However, if--I say IF-- it is not included for a reason, (like setting
standards for your favorite Validator), and/or you know what each one of the
elements "does", then you might be better off not using it. The point being
that the DOCTYPE statement is a line of "commands" to cause something,
somewhere to react to these commands. It is not just stuck up on top of a
web page to look pretty or because it is "required".

Like the "required" turn signals on your automobile, you should only use
them when you are about to make a turn. (And you have to know the difference
between right and left.) You don't automatically start blinking the second
you start the car simply because they are required for some purpose.

Whew !!!

Having thrown down the gauntlet--as it were--here is where the idiot says
something dumb. Like "Let's not start another DOCTYPE war."

Best wishes
Ted Temer
Temercraft Designs Redding, CA
temer(at)c-zone.net
www.temercraft.com/
www.newsredding.com/
www.ramac-rc.org/

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