XHTML 1.0: Where XML and HTML meet (2/8) - exploring XML

XHTML 1.0: Where XML and HTML meet

Which old HTML sins to overcome?

The Ten Commandments of XHTML are:

1. Fix up all documents that are not well-formed
   Well-formedness is a new concept introduced by XML. Essentially this means that all elements must be properly nested. Although overlapping is illegal in SGML, it was widely tolerated in existing browsers.

   NOT: <p>this is <em>emphasized</p></em>
   BUT: <p>this is <em>emphasized</em></p>
   

2. Change all tags and attribute names to lower case
   XHTML documents must use lower case for all HTML element and attribute names. XML is case-sensitive, so for instance <li> and <LI> are different tags.
3. Add end tags for non-empty elements
   In SGML-based HTML 4 certain elements were permitted to omit the end tag; with the elements that followed implying closure. This omission is not permitted in XML-based XHTML. All elements other than those declared in the DTD as EMPTY must have an end tag.

   NOT: <p>one<p>two
   BUT: <p>one</p><p>two</p>
   

4. Quote all attribute values
   All attribute values must be quoted, even those which appear to be numeric.

   NOT: <table rows=3>
   BUT: <table rows="3">
   

5. Unminimize attributes
   XML does not support attribute minimization, attribute-value pairs must be written in full. Attribute names such as compact and checked cannot occur in elements without their value being specified.

   NOT: <dl compact>
   BUT: <dl compact="compact">
   

6. Correctly tag empty elements
   Empty elements must either have an end tag or the start tag must end with />. For instance, <br/> or <hr></hr>. See below for information on ways to ensure this is backward compatible with HTML 4 user agents.

   NOT: <br><hr>
   BUT: <br/><hr/>
   

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URL: https://www.webreference.com/xml/column6/2.html
Created: Feb. 07, 2000
Revised: Feb. 07, 2000