RE: Stumped!

> In a HTML document, please explain to me the difference.  The
> results would be the same, so why the technicality?


Peter,

I'm with Donna on this one.

You need to understand the relationship between structure and style in a
HTML document.

When we define the STRUCTURE of a document, we define which sections of text
will be headings, which will be paragraphs, which will be block quotes, etc.
When we define the STYLE of the document, we define how each section will
look, i.e., typeface, size, colour.

In previous versions of HTML, there was no need to make this distinction.
If <H3> looked the same as <FONT SIZE="3">, we may as well have used them
interchangeably.  However, now we are dealing with a much more powerful
beast, CSS.  Now it is possible to define the style of an entire Web site
with a single CSS file.  Therefore, the distinction between STYLE and
STRUCTURE has become much more apparent, and much more important.  CSS is
used to define style, and HTML tags are used to define the structure upon
which CSS thrives.  In fact, it is this relationship that allows HTML 4
documents to retain functionality when viewed with non-CSS capable browsers.

By giving structure and style strict definitions, we can exploit the power
of CSS, and write code that features a certain degree of logic.

Tim





> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-hwg-techniques(at)hwg.org
> [mailto:owner-hwg-techniques(at)hwg.org]On Behalf Of Peter Benoit
> Sent: 24 February 2000 14:55
> To: 'Donna M Smillie'; hwg-techniques(at)hwg.org
> Subject: RE: Stumped!
>
>
> In a HTML document, please explain to me the difference.  The
> results would be the same, so why the technicality?  If it's
> a heading fine,
> a heading is nothing more than preformatted text isn't it?
> So why would it
> really matter if you used <H3> or if you used <FONT SIZE=3>.
> Maybe if you
> were doing something special with the page via scripting
> fine, but for the
> standard ordinary web page I wouldn't think that such a
> differentiation
> would matter.
>
> > The problem with that is that it messes up the logical
> > structure of the
> > document, assuming the H3 tags were used because the text
> > is actually a
> > heading and not just to get the font formatting.

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