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Arguments for XHTML (was Re: XMLization attempt at Infoworld)

• From: "Michael Champion" <Mike.Champion@s...>
• To: <xml-dev@x...>
• Date: Tue, 2 May 2000 10:37:01 -0400

----- Original Message -----
From: "Simon St.Laurent" <simonstl@s...>
To: <Daniel.Veillard@w...>; <xml-dev@x...>
Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2000 9:38 AM
Subject: Re: XMLization attempt at Infoworld


> This pessimism doesn't come from an XHTML-hater by any means - I just
> finished a book on XHTML and would like to see it have a long and
> prosperous future.
>
> I just don't see _anyone_ marketing XHTML as a solution to _problems_.
> "It's the next cool thing" and "hey, you can use all these nifty
> (unfamiliar, sometimes inadequate for XHTML) XML tools" isn't enough of a
> story by itself.


Well, unless you make your XHTML well-formed, the XML tools won't do you
much good!

I'm all for XHTML, but perhaps because I have a hammer (a native XML
database) and see it as yet another nail ;~)  Seriously, what are some
reasons why someone like InfoWorld might be persuaded to use XHTML (along
with the guidelines for making it displyable in older browsers)?

As a first cut, XHTML (as opposed to HTML) gives you ...

1. The ability to use XSLT to transform the data to WML or some HTML subset
for handhelds ...
2. The (potential?) ability to use XSL-FO for high-quality printing
3. The ability to use some combination of XML servers/databases and XPath to
query for information in a way that uses both the structure and content.
4. The ability to easily interoperate with emerging XML-based B2B systems
(e.g., to send XHTML content without having to fool around with making it
well formed or escaping it in a CDATA section or whatever).
5. (Someday) the ability to use XInclude, XLink, etc. to reuse content in a
more standardized manner.

Hmmm, I guess more of these are "Real Soon Now" advantages than I thought
when I starting writing this message.  Are their other existing, supported,
XML standards that would truly make life easier for large-scale Web sites
that use XHTML?


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    • From: "Simon St.Laurent" <simonstl@s...>

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