Re: html5 syntax - why not use xml syntax?

On Fri, 2007-07-06 at 14:01 +0200, Mynthon wrote:
> Why isn't html5 using xml syntax?
[...]
> As i understand not-closed tag and values without " or ' are allowed
> in html5. It is probably because of backward compatibility but imo it
> is not good idea.

public-html@w3.org is the mailing list of the W3C HTML Working Group,
whose charter includes:

"A serialized form of such a language using a defined, non-XML syntax
compatible with the 'classic HTML' parsers of existing Web browsers."
 -- http://www.w3.org/2007/03/HTML-WG-charter.html

As to _why_ we're chartered that way, this explanation seems to
be passing the test of wiki consensus...

[[[
There's a gap between W3C Specifications for HTML and HTML as she are spoke (aka tag soup).
 The MarkupValidator is intended to close that gap by providing automated feedback to authors. 

Tag Soup: Crazy parsing adventures in Hixie's Natural Log in Jan 2006 tells of his
attempts to write a spec for HTML lexical details that's not constrained by XML/SGML.
In the browser panel at the W3C Workshop on Usability and Transparency of Web Authentication,
some banks asked what they could do to help the browser guys, and chaals said "give me
a spec for the HTML you publish." 

The number of projects that have solved this problem independently suggests that a standard
is worthwhile. In March 2007, W3C chartered an HTML Working Group to work on, among other
things, a "non-XML syntax compatible with the 'classic HTML' parsers of existing Web browsers."

]]]
 -- http://esw.w3.org/topic/HTMLAsSheAreSpoke

See also "Reinventing HTML" by Tim Berners-Lee in Oct 2006,
http://dig.csail.mit.edu/breadcrumbs/node/166
http://www.w3.org/QA/2006/10/reinventing_html_discuss.html

Our membership records (http://www.w3.org/html/wg/#who )
don't list that email address (mynthon1@gmail.com). You're
welcome to join the WG; of course, to do so, you have to
agree to the charter.
While we haven't put in place technical mechanisms to prevent
postings from non-WG-members, we do expect all postings to
this mailing list to contribute to the work of this group.

While changes to the charter are possible, they are very expensive
and unlikely.

Note also.. " www-html, a mailing list created in 1994 to discuss HTML,
is still available for discussions related to HTML but not in the scope
of this Working Group."
 -- http://www.w3.org/html/wg/
 -> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-html/


-- 
Dan Connolly, W3C http://www.w3.org/People/Connolly/

Received on Friday, 6 July 2007 15:40:44 UTC