I've heard of a rumour saying iexplore and firefox is soon going to switch to XHTML. I'm not sure what it means but is there any difference or is it just a file ext. diff? I know HTML is a very "happy-go-lucky" coding style (You don't have to caps most of the codes for example) and other coding like php and JAVA is very strict. Will XHTML be stricter than normal old html? That reminds me of shtml...its still working around is it?

See XHTML - or Extended HTML as it is commonly known as is a superset of HTML - i.e. it's HTML with lots more newer features of XML incorporated into it.. can call it as NextGen HTML But XHTML defines a lot of strict rules that you've to follow while coding, some of them being:

Besides, XHTML permits you to include bits of other markup languages like MathML, SMIL, or SVG - which you cannot do in HTML. Infact, XHTML & HTML cannot be intermixed.

The biggest difference is probably the well-formedness of XHTML docs.

In case you want to convert your current HTML docs into well-formed XHTML docs, you can use: HTML Tidy or the Amaya browser/editor.


As for your .shtml docs, they are way different from HTML or XHTML.. shtml extension files were infact indicative of HTML documents containing SSI (Server Side Include) statements. Those were a different breed of extensions on HTML to enhance it's capabilities. SSI is defined as:


More Info on XHTML & SSI:
1. http://www.w3schools.com/xhtml/xhtml_html.asp
2. http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/2004/xhtml-faq
3. http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1
4. http://hoohoo.ncsa.uiuc.edu/docs/tutorials/includes.html
5. http://httpd.apache.org/docs/howto/ssi.html

Even if the emphasis now is on XHTML and it's many advantages over HTML, do you think that XHTML will achieve mass adoption among internet users and web designers soon? Everybody's so used to dealing with HTML, many will hesitate to switch to XHTML, especially if they think it's a more difficult language than HTML. Don't you think so?

Not at all, the switch for me was a five minute process, if you know HTML then you know XHTML perfectly, you just need to code in a slightly difefrent way, all the tags are the same but some small additions and subractions from HTML. Its a very easy and more logical way to code.

There are several reasons to adopt XHTML instead HTML, but maybe the most important ones are:

-“XHTML is the new set of standards that the web will be built on in the years to come… Future browser versions might stop supporting deprecated elements from old HTML drafts, and so many old basic-HTML sites may start displaying incorrectly and unpredictably.”

-“XHTML for a short time, it is no more difficult to use than HTML ever was, and in ways is easier since it is built on a more simplified set of standards… Browsers can also interpret and display a clean XHTML page quicker than one with errors that the browser may have to handle.”

-“By using familiar language with some new concepts, it is easier to transition into less familiar territories. For example, knowledge of XHTML 1.0 can simplify the transition to upcoming XHTML versions and related XML technologies for wireless and other applications, such as WML (Wireless Markup Language), SMIL (synchronized multimedia language), and SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics).”

These concepts and much more priceless information you can find at:
http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/accessibilit...lexplained.html
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library/w-xhtml.html

Eventually everything will be going to xml, which I have no idea how to do lol. I have a basic understanding of how it works, but never worked with it at all.

As for xhtml, it's very similiar to HTML. It's just a little more strict. As stated above if you know HTML you'll probably find XHTML fairly easy to get into.

Moving to XHTML from HTML is such an easy and logical move really..
I'm sure there is going to a be a wide adoption of XHTML with web designers because from now on one can trust that the page he is designing will look like he wants it to look, independently of the browser they're looking at their page from.
Besides, XML is such a smart language. I mean, seriously... if you're going to code crappy HTML and put in lots of blinking text and other unaesthetic crap just stick to MySpace, and let the real web-designers code in XHTML.
This is the dawning on a new WWW!

I'm not sure this is entirely true; I (and most people, I think) can whip up some HTML pretty quick, but on the few occasions I've tried to format some XHTML for a friend, I've gotten quite a headache... the two 'languages' are obviously related but I've found XHTML is way too strict. Maybe I just need more practice, but I certainly won't be seeking out any more headaches for now.

Also did I read that someone thought php was strict? When I get through with projects my php code is so sloppy! I'll clean up some of that code eventually though. Maybe.

It is strict with a reason. When writing HTML code, you don't need to worry about numerous things. Make all the tags uppercase, or even better, mix that with lowercase! While it will all be correct, it's quite possible that the code will be interpreted in a different way by Internet Explorer and Firefox. And that's where XHTML jumps in.

You are right, it may be a bit too strict for someone used to incorrect HTML. However, I have always been very careful when coding, and used to make everything lowercase. And now I don't have troubles with XHTML since it took me only a few days to get used to it. Not to mention that there are programs that convert HTML to XHTML, so you don't have to worry about how you are going to re-code it. On the other hand, when using these programs, you will probably "distort" the design a bit (that's my expirience), but it can all be solved in a short period of time.

Personally, the case shouldn't matter, case strict languages piss me off period, it's annoying as hell.

However, in the case of HTML to XHTML, I'm actually all for it lol.

It makes things much easier in the end to follow XHTML.