Okay, i know this topic has sort-of been discussed here and there, but i wanted some stable answers...

so I'm askin you guys... when designing a website, which way do you prefer to go? HTML and CSS or XML and XSL?

My lecturer was saying the other day that XML and XSL are going to take over pretty soon, but I was doubtful. Maybe in cases of professional web designing, but i doubted that the mass public (non-professional web designers and all alike) would make the switch anytime soon. If anything, I would say that Flash would take over general coding, but that's a seprate issue.

I know XML and XSL aren't yet as mainstream as HTML and CSS, so you can find combinations of the coding everywhere, and this may be a sign that XML and XSL are, infact, slowly seeping into the mainstream and phasing out good ol' HTML, but tell me what you guys think. I'm really interested in the results of this thread.

XHTML and CSS.

Look at it this way... XHTML is "supposedly" the go-in-between between XML and HTML. XML is admittedly being used more and more, especially if you mention RSS pages, because the language itself can be adapted to fit into all types of views, like PDAs and handphones can format and show websites. But in the end, XML, though somewhat similar to HTML is still a programming language that actually requires some form of programming. Most of the designers can't even switch fully over to XHTML and CSS. Don't talk XML and XSL to them.

If anything, I agree that XML and XSL MAY be the way to go, in maybe 5 or 10 more years. HTML has had around ten years before it got taken over, gradually, by XHTML. CSS took, what, 3 years? to mature and become the well-behaved language it is today. RSS, the main application of XML on the web nowadays, is getting more mainstream, but still considered geeky. To say that XML and XSL will take over pretty soon is quite the sweeping statement, something that might be gleaned purely from articles in magazines, but very ivory-tower-ish. Most people involved in MAINSTREAM web development will know that most people are still working with HTML and XHTML. The switch between HTML and XHTML is not great, and yet it's already taking so long, let's not argue about CSS. I highly doubt that XML and XSL will catch on anytime "pretty soon", unless "pretty soon" was in years.

That's my take on it. Technology courses in universities and colleges are quite interesting sometimes, but very ivory-towerish on other times. My technology prof used to discuss Blogging like he knows it so well, but in the end, if you're involved in the scene, you know that some of the things they say can't just be taken at face value.

It's good that you're questioning your lecturer like that though.

Between HTML and XML is the XHTML, slowly, the W3C is encouraging everyone to move over to XHTML, and abandon HTML.With XHTML, you get more structured coding, and therefore, browsers can render them properly with less of a industry wide standard, like HTML right now. As viewing websites on cellphones, PDA's, and mobile devices become more and more popular, the demand for XHTML will grow, and will also spark the concrete phase of CSS 2.

So in final words: XHTML and CSS 2

XHTML shuold be the best suitable answer of the topic . whyme said that :"As viewing websites on cellphones, PDA's, and mobile devices become more and more popular, the demand for XHTML will grow" , I am totally agree .

In any case, the adoption of XML as the primary programming langauge for the Internet will be very slow as most designers and programmers are still coding with HTML and CSS. Internet users are also familiar with HTML and will be averse to XML.

But I agree, with the more powerful language of XML and the increasingly adoption by cutting-edge internet websites, it will replace HTML as the main language in the Internet.

XML gives a very promising features in web arena. Thoug as in my knowledge very limited support in terms of how you display this.

I prefer HMTL & CSS, just because i don't want to spent another 3 years to learn another language that's maybe a bit better or less better. I don't know why HTML should be abandond. If W3C wants that I'm going to kill them , I spend a lot of time by learning HTMl and now i have to learn another language........

See, that was exactly what i thought the attitude might be, when concerning the public with webdesign coding (not just the pros).

But it looks like the majority agree with my lecturer on this one... HmMmMm... interesting...

And thanks for the replies, by the way. I realized when i posted the topic that it didnt make as much sense as I thought it had when writting it... oops... but you guys seem to understand what i was getting at

I think the problem with XML/XSL is that browsers parse the sourcecode in different ways. The Internet Explorer's built-in XML-Parser can throw a xml-file vs. a xsl-stylesheet very simply, other broser's parsers can't.

So to make your XML/XSL-site working, you've got to let the transformation take place on the server. Most of the webspace providers running the Apache Server with PHP don't have the XSLT (Sablotron) implemented . But the xslt_create()-command is necessary to do a XML/XSL-transformation without programming an own xml-parser.

I think as soon as these things change XML/XSL will "win".

GreetingZ

It seems that an excellent option is just to complement XHTML and CSS, by the way Look at Http: // www.csszengarden.com/. I started learning XHTML and I could have verified that it is not very different that HTML, if you know HTML it makes you easy to learn it.