What's XHTML?
XHTML is extensible hyper text markup language.
Generally, using XHTML lets you realize the benefits of XML, while ensuring the backward and future compatibility of your web documents. Following are some specific reasons to use XHTML:
- XHTML is designed to replace HTML. If you want your Internet website to be visible and properly rendered in the future, it’s a sound investment to begin coding in XHTML now.
- XHTML is designed to be operable across devices, not just on PCs.
- XHTML is an XML language, so it offers the potential for extensibility. You can also use standard XML tools to view, edit, and validate your XHTML documents.
- XHTML documents can use applications such as scripts and applets that rely on the HTML Document Object Model or the XML Document Object Model.
- XHTML requires quality code. This reduces the discrepancies between how different user agents, such as web browsers, render a web document, since many of these discrepancies are caused by incorrect or poorly formatted code.
XHTML is available in two flavors: Transitional and Strict. We prefer to code is Strict XHTML because it forces the pages to be code perfect; however, on some occasions we must resort to XHTML Transitional.
If you are considering another vendor, tell them you insist the pages all validate as XHTML Strict and watch them squirm! It is no easy feat because it forces your hand on bad coding habits.
