InfoWorld: World Wide Web Consortium combines HTML, XML into XHTML

“The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) on Wednesday recommended
use of XHTML (Extensible HTML) 1.0 specification to expand the use
of XML (Extensible Markup Language) without making existing HTML
elements obsolete.

XHTML 1.0 was created by rewriting HTML 4 as an XML application,
creating a specification that will work with HTML browsers and take
advantage of XML’s device-independent capabilities. According to
Janet Daly, a spokesperson for the W3C, XHTML 1.0 will act as a
‘bridge’ to connect the mostly-HTML-based Web with the benefits of
XML.”

“Developers already writing HTML 4 documents should have a
smooth transition into XHMTL 1.0, Daly said, noting that the W3C
provides tools to convert HTML 4 documents into XHTML, and that
‘the tag set, the elements, and attributes [for XHTML] are all HTML
4, so there’s no learning curve there.’ With the new specification,
content developers will also be able to sidestep the problem of
rewriting documents for several different device types.”

“The growing number of wireless and mobile devices, such as
Internet-enabled cell phones and Palm-type handheld devices, was a
major part of the impetus behind the W3C’s recommendation of XHTML
1.0 as well as its continuing efforts to create XHTML
1.1.”

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