XML and HTML. Please shed some light..

[klosters64a]

Hi, folks. Let me preface my Q with the fact that I understand as much about programming as I do quantum dynamics. Just about nothing!

Lately, it looks like the IT industry doesn't like hardware people at all. It's said that a CS degree plus five years of familiarity with 35,000 user networks is now the ticket to a good job. How things change. Eighteen months ago, an MCSE alone was a ticket to the 80K job.

Therefore, programming may be all there is for many who want to do the IT thang!

So, XML programmers are needed. Allegedly. Is XML backwards compatible with HTML? Is it entirely a "program" to itself? Is XML a thing that MS, yet nobody else wants to push? I'd really appreciate enlightenment! Thanking you in advance, if I may be so bold.

 

[Monaco]

The way I was explained it-
XML is a style or subset of HTML. The idea of XML is that you get to create your own tags. You really can't learn just XML and not know HTML.

And, I don't believe that MS came up with either of those.

Sure it's way more in depth than that, but that's the gist of it. And, the IT biz doesn't like hardware people- of course not! In IT related fields, the hardware guy will always be support personnel, will always take orders, because the IT field is based on software. To *really* make money on hardware, you need to design it. Custom-made computing devices are INCREDIBLY expensive.

I'm sure not everyone will agree with me on all this, but that's how I see it.

 

[UnseenMenace]

HTML outlines hypertext structure. Ideally, hypertext is data following a path imposed by user whim, linked and experienced independent of where it and its user are. Though the Web hasn't reached this ideal and perhaps never will, HTML's design grasps for it, emphasizing three concerns in data delivery:

* Linking: Data is linked in HTML, letting one piece carry you to another.
* Simplicity: HTML is simple, making it easy to learn
* Portability: HTML is stripped down, making it portable, especially over networks.

HTML was the first way so much data could reach so many so easily. Radio and TV unleashed a lot of data but the flood was indiscriminate. Computers allowed higher interaction with thought but were limited by place and multi-platform babble. Only HTML allowed data to transcend the tyranny of place and distance.

HTML markup is fixed. Linkage, simplicity, and portability demand limits on markup. That's fine, if you just want linkage, simplicity, and portability. If you Want more, you have a problem. HTML is limited in:

* Intelligence: How well data knows itself.
* Adaptation: How well data changes in response to changing times.
* Maintenance: How easily data is cared for.

Some intelligence infests HTML. It knows what is a paragraph and what is a picture. But it doesn't know the paragraph's about Daniel and Paul and the picture is a Brown Puppy. It focuses on basics, not specifics. Daniel and Paul can't be torn from Brown Puppy if Brown Puppy's all you want. You get everything in one swallow.

HTML throws everything in one hat, one size fits all. Its hard to find and change the exact markup you want. Markup for look and linking get mixed in with data, with no clear division. Change look, links may be lost. Change links, look may be lost. Separate markup for links, look, and data don't exist. To change something you change everything.

Power over maintenance lost.

Extensible Markup Language allows specific markup to be created for specific data. It has the virtues of HTML without any of its limitations. XML is strong in:

* Intelligence.
* Adaptation.
* Maintenance.
* Linking.
* Simplicity.
* Portability.

XML is a mother tongue for other languages, so markup languages like DanielML and PaulML become possible. Adaptation is infinite. Custom markup can be created for any need. If markup describing how pepperoni pizza is different from sausage pizza is needed, it can be made. If markup describing the varying degrees of lumpiness in gravy is needed, it can be made. No more fixed markup to limit the categorizing instincts of the masses.

XML is easy to maintain. It contains only data and markup. Look comes from a separate stylesheet and links are separate, not buried in the document. Each can be maintained separately. Easy access and easy change.

XML has one way to link embracing all ways to link. Not only that, it links in ways HTML can't. HTML can do simple, one way links within or outside data. XML does that but can also link two or more points within or outside data. There are even super-links intertwining all data within itself. Any link between any data can be handled.

XML is simple. When looking at XML the average user may find that hard to believe. Compared to HTML it's not. But compared other languages that let you do what XML does, it's simplicity itself. Unneeded overhead has been torn out in favor of essentials. XML gets to the point.

XML carries well. It's reason for existence is Power + Portability. All a browser needs to view XML is the data itself and the stylesheet controlling its look. If stricter validation is needed, a description listing out its exact meaning can be used with only slightly more overhead

Is this confusing ?

 

[phendish]

You said it, unseen. Best explanation about XML/HTML that I have ever seen.

If you want to learn HTML, I'd suggest starting out with HTML for Dummies or another book by Laura Lemay (I think it is HTML in 7 days or a similar title). I wish I knew the exact title of the book by Lemay - it's the better book.

 

[klosters64a]

Thank you very much for your replies! Especially UnseenMenace! "UM" really knows his shtuff! I need to read the posts again(like ten times)-- maybe they'll stick in my mind, then!

 

[parkan]

HTML and XML have the same parent language, SGML, standard generalized markup language. XML and XHTML (a new HTML standard) are more strict but give the programmer more flexibility.

 

[UnseenMenace]

XHTML is simply HTML 4 written as an XML application.

There are two primary parts to XHTML:

* HTML 4
HTML 4 is a markup language used for displaying text and documents across different platforms and machines. It was originally intended for a very specific audience, and has expanded to include hypertext, multimedia, as well as the style of the documents displayed.
* XML
XML is an extensible markup language that was developed to retain the flexibility and power of HTML while reducing most of the complexity.

The reason for XHTML is an attempt to solve a lot of the problems with HTML at one time. For example.

Small devices, like handhelds, can't surf the web as the latest browser download are large in size and most of the handheld devices have at most a small storage capacity. Web browsers are so big because HTML is so flexible, so browsers have to be extremely complex in order to support all the different ways to do things... XHTML is attempting to cut down on the complexity of HTML, by simplifying the rules and making the rules much stricter. Hopefully, the code required to read and display XHTML is a lot smaller than for regular HTML. Devices (like handhelds) will declare to a web site what tags it supports, and web sites declare to handhelds what tags it requires. This is called Modularized XHTML, and that means that not all devices need to support all tags. A browser could be XHTML compliant, but not support color and sound.
Browsers like Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator vary greatly in the tags they support because the original version of HTML was very bland - no colors, no sound, no multimedia. Black on grey. Netscape began adding something they called "Netscape Extensions" to HTML - new tags not supported by the official specification or other browser companies. When Microsoft entered the browser market, they added more tags of their own as a form of competitive advantage. (Thus the term "embrace and extend" was born). Both companies have announced they will no longer add tags not officially supported, and will instead go through the official specifications process. But the damage is already done. Browsers do the same things differently, or some tags and attributes are supported by one and not the other.
The X in XHTML stands for Extensible. Extensible means that tags can easily be added to XHTML using XHTML Modules. So if you wanted to create a set of tags to support a new technology, like surfing the web with your toaster, then you could create those tags within the XHTML standard.