- From: Brent Eades <beades@ottawa.net>
- Date: Fri, 16 Aug 1996 16:15:41 +0000
- To: www-html@w3.org
This is my first post to the list, though I have been following it for several months now. As a comparative novice to the more advanced levels of discourse found here as compared with other HTML lists, I was nonetheless struck by the debate these past couple of days over the <p> tag. It surprises me somewhat that at the same time professionals in the HTML field are debating relatively arcane matters such as DTDs vs GIs, SGML, CLASS, etc etc, a question about so seemingly simple a matter as the correct use of <p> can still spark a rather spirited round of debate and disagreements amongst these same experts. Why is it, do you think, that HTML is -- from my vantage at least -- so perenially susceptible to this sort of subjective interpretation, even amongst those most expert in its history and application? Is it because of HTML's often rather non-prescriptive nature? Because of the confusingly different manners in which various browsers choose to render it? Simply an endemic aspect of any language as open and collaborative as HTML? I am sincerely curious on these points, and certainly not trying to be argumentative. Any thoughts on the matter would be much appreciated. Anything to help me get a better grip on this slippery beast called HTML :) --------------------------------------- Brent Eades, Box 1759, Almonte, Ontario http://www.worldlink.ca/almonte/brent beades@ottawa.net | almonte@worldlink.ca Member: Web Consultants Association | Contributor: CGI-L FAQ
Received on Friday, 16 August 1996 16:17:41 UTC