Features of XHTML and IE Support of XHTML

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What Are the Features of XHTML?

XHTML stands for Extensible Hypertext Markup Language. It is an authoring or presentation language that consists of a set of codes or tags that makes a document able to be displayed on the World Wide Web when read by a Web browser. Besides determining the layout and the structure of the specific Web page, XHTML also defines the links to other pages. It determines where graphics and pictures will be placed and how text will appear and specifies the use of different fonts and italics, underlining or boldface. Before January 2000, the official World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) used two separate markup languages to express web pages- HTML and XML. Now both have been combined into XHTML which is a very flexible application. This new application is a combination of HTML 4 which was used to display text and documents on different platforms and XML. It has been expanded and now includes hypertext and multimedia in addition to the style of displayed documents. The original XML was an extensible markup language, a structured set of rules used to define data that is going to be shared on the Web. What is meant by “extensible” is that it can be adapted by anyone using their own markup for a particular purpose. But the conventions must be followed by everyone using it. Since XHTML is both flexible and extensible, it can now be used for many Web browsers other than Internet Explorer. This was not possible previously with HTML alone.

Before 26 January 2000, the official World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) used two separate markup languages to express web pages- HTML and XML. Now both have been combined into one flexible application. This new application is a combination of HTML 4, which was used to display text and documents on different platforms. It has been expanded and now includes hypertext and multimedia in addition to the style of displayed documents. The original XML was an extensible markup language, a structured set of rules used to define data that is going to be shared on the Web. What is meant by “extensible” is that it can be adapted by anyone using their own markup for a particular purpose as long as the conventions are followed by everyone using it. XHTML makes the use of HTML simpler and more flexible. Since XHTML is both flexible and extensible, it can now be used for all Web browsers which was not possible previously with HTML alone. XHTML can also be extended by anyone who uses it and they can add new attributes and new elements.

XHTML was developed from HTML 4. It looks a great deal like an HTML file but with additional features. In July 2006, an eighth version of XHTML was released. W3C says that XHTML has the advantages of being extensible and portable among platforms and browsers. Extensibility is important because when new ideas emerge for presentation and communication on the Web they can be implemented right away without having to create a new HTML version and new browser support. This means that new tags and new attributes can be defined and used right away. This extensibility advantage is particularly relevant for developments in vector graphics, mathematics and multimedia applications. The advantage of portability means that Web pages can be made simpler so that smaller devices, like cell phones and mobile wireless devices, which have smaller programs and less memory, can use them.

There are numerous distinctive features of XHTML including that all documents need to have a root element. All elements, even the empty tags, need to be closed. Elements should be nested in pairs. All the attribute values need to be quoted. All documents should have a doctype declaration and this declaration must be the first line of the XHTML document. From this it can be seen how important it is for users to adhere to the coding rules and be very careful about using correct syntax. This means that it is important to close as well as open all elements and to use only lowercase.

HTML was less strict about these rules in the past. This will make XHTML files look more complicated though they really will not be more difficult to read. They can even be edited to look more readable. One of the big advantages of this standardization of coding is the development of a style sheet. The new XHTML makes it much easier to add new enhancements and new elements and develop new browsers and applications to support these new elements.

An HTML document can be converted to XHTML by following a few simple rules. These include: rewriting everything in lowercase; adhering to strict html specifications using an html validator; avoiding the use of overlapping elements; making sure that end tags are used; quoting attributes and using values for them; and doing a final xhtml validation.

Does Internet Explorer Support XHTML?

Although XHTML can be used for almost all Web browsers, it does not support Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer is one of the most common programs used to browse the Web and most web pages are designed to be used with Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer was previously called Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE). This has now been shortened to Internet Explorer (IE). It enables Web pages to be viewed over the Internet using a graphical interface. Internet Explorer was introduced to users in 1995 and it quickly became one of the most popular web browsers. The latest official release was Internet Explorer 8 (IE8). IE8 is used with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows Server.

Even though Internet Explorer (IE) does not support XHTML, there is a way in which it is able to render XHTML documents authored with HTML compatibility principles. But they must have been served with a text/html/MIME-type. This means that even though Microsoft Internet Explorer does not accept the media type application/ xhtml+xml, there is a trick that programmers can employ that allows XHTML1.0 documents to be served to Internet Explorer as application/xml.

It is important that this be on the same site as the document that refers to it. When these conventions are followed, then the browser thinks that it has received text/html, even though the document is being served as XML and it is being parsed as XML.

It is possible to speculate on what the future might hold in regard to XHTML and Internet Explorer. One might wonder whether XHTML, which many say is an exceptionally user friendly and innovative program, will come to completely replace the former HTML. On the other hand, some programmers believe that HTML was actually a more robust program. They prefer it to XHTML which they maintain can become too complicated and unwieldy. Anyone can add features to it at any time. On the other hand, if XHTML survives and replaces the previous use of both HTML and XML, it remains to be seen whether Internet Explorer, will eventually develop a version which will support XHTML.

Resource by B.Matthews

I am a fun outgoing girl who loves to go to concerts and sit on the grass and read. My favorite books are those that make me think about life, love and how the world spins around no matter the troubles that you're going through.

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