What’s the Difference Between XML and XHTML ?
We all know about hypertext markup language (HTML), the computer language that composes the backbone of all web design. We know about the specially made tags that make it possible for the budding web designer to stylize his or her text, create data tables, insert pictures, and link separate pages together. HTML, though basic in today’s world, remains a key component to making a clean and aesthetically pleasing web page.
Fewer are familiar with extensible markup language (XML). As a language, XML is far more flexible than HTML, most notably in that it has no pre-defined tags; those are all created by the web designer within the confines of the document. It is also flexible to the point where other languages can, and have, been written within, including RSS, SOAP and Atom, all of which are effective at getting and showing large amounts of information efficiently. However, it’s not nearly as effective as HTML for displaying information on screen. It is far more effective in either storing or transferring data for use in scripts.
So what exactly is XHTML? Simply put, it is the marriage between XML and HTML. More specifically, like the other XML-based languages, itβs the hypertext markup language written within the extensible markup language to bring the best of both worlds together with fewer incompatibilities. It has the ability to store and display large amounts of data with as little fuss as possible.
So, knowing what it is, how does XHTML differ from HTML? Though it’s written in much the same way as the latter, XHTML still must adhere to the syntax limitations of XML. That means that unlike HTML, it’s all case sensitive; all tags must be lower cased. This must also apply to affiliated elements, like CSS. Furthermore, HTML can get by with some tags going unclosed, something neither XML nor XHTML can do; every opening tag must have a corresponding closing tag. And most of all, a web designer has to be more wary of errors in XHTML, because any will cause the web page in question to no longer process.
Regardless, thanks to its flexibility and added dynamism, anyone looking for the best host for their website will definitely want to look into one that supports XHTML.
