Re: CfC: close ISSUE-125 charset-vs-quotes by amicable resolution

On Sun, 23 Jan 2011 14:08:49 +0100, Julian Reschke <julian.reschke@gmx.de>  
wrote:
> On 22.01.2011 16:29, Anne van Kesteren wrote:
>> I have now tested the Content-Type header in HTTP and it appears the
>> majority of distinct browser engines supports single quotes there. Given
>
> Ah, "majority of distinct browser engines"; a new measure :-).

It's what we mean when we say "majority of browser engines" but that has  
been misinterpreted purposefully in the past so I thought I would try  
something new. I guess I should not be surprised by your remark.


>> that single quotes and double quotes can be used interchangeably all
>> over the Web Platform changing HTTP would be a far more pragmatic way
>> forward here I think.
>
> A) please share what you actually tested

I created a variant of https://bitbucket.org/annevk/simpleserver that gave  
me more control over the HTTP section. Then I transmitted the following to  
a client:

HTTP/1.1 200 YADAYADA
Connection: close
Content-Type:text/html;charset='utf-8'

—

I tried the same with the charset declaration missing and a couple of  
other variants.


> B) changing HTTP would break IE, for instance (see  
> <http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/attachment.cgi?id=916> for the parsing in  
> <meta>, and <http://greenbytes.de/tech/tc2231/ct1.asis> for the HTTP  
> header field). It would probably break many other non-browser HTTP  
> agents/libraries.

It would only start breaking IE when people would actually start using it.


> What I'm really missing is a statement about WHY you would ever consider  
> something "required for compatibility with existing content" when IE  
> doesn't do it. Please elaborate.

I did not say that. What I said is that it makes sense to change HTTP  
because double and single quotes can be used all over the Web Platform  
interchangeably. Often though more lenient syntax is more compatible and  
authors do not always test in IE. There are places where IE has negligible  
market share.


-- 
Anne van Kesteren
http://annevankesteren.nl/

Received on Sunday, 23 January 2011 14:37:14 UTC