The Basics of HTML

In this article you will learn the basics of HTML—what it is, what it does, its history in brief, and what the structure of an HTML document looks like.

Francis, Mark Norman. Opera (2008). Articles>Web Design>HTML>XHTML

What’s the Difference Between HTML and XHTML?

If you’ve mastered HTML, you’re 90% of the way towards using XHTML. They’re actually very much the same thing—tag-based markup languages used to display Web pages. The difference is only seen by the people creating the pages (Web designers, programmers, etc.) and focuses on “forgivability”— HTML allows for some ugly code (mixed case tags like , improperly nested elements, and unclosed tags), while XHTML does not. If you write HTML, it’s probably a good idea to start using XHTML practices anyway. It will take 5 minutes to learn, and it’s just a better way of doing things.

Jason, Chris. ChrisJason.com (2006). Articles>Web Design>HTML>XHTML

Common Ideas Between HTML and XHTML

As of this writing, HTML and XHTML are both being used to create Web sites. But there are multiple versions of each, with specific changes and ideas attached. The following table shows the current W3C HTML and XHTML recommendations of note.

Web Standards Project (2004). Articles>Web Design>HTML>XHTML

HTML Versus XHTML: Which Should We Use, and Why?

HTML 4.01 is as valuable as XHTML 1.0 in a daily usage. The syntax proposed by XHTML 1.0 has several important benefits. The weight of these benefits has to be evaluated in the context of your project: Use the right tool for the right job. For a Web designer, starting to use XHTML 1.0 will be helpful in some circumstances and will certainly help you to smoothly negotiate the future. XHTML 1.0 gives a wonderful opportunity to learn about XML languages and their possibilities without having to learn new semantics because you’re working with familiar tags and attributes.

Web Standards Project (2005). Articles>Web Design>HTML>XHTML