Missing Functionality: Include

Coming from programming languages like C++ and Python, I naturally 
expected that it would be similarly simple to move redundant parts of 
the page into external files and then include them back in. After 
extensive searching, I determined that this basic functionality is 
missing from the language, and requires such hefty workarounds as 
server-side-scripting or PHP. It should not be necessary to go to a 
completely different language to perform such a necessary task, 
particularly languages that require the added complication of a web 
server just to see if your code is functioning properly, and the added 
worry that some servers may not support the scripting.

Am I alone in wishing for a simple <include url('file.html')/> element 
or something similar that allows this to be accomplished easily? In my 
opinion this is a completely basic function that any language should 
have. How did CSS, which was developed later, obtain the <link> tag, 
meanwhile the older HTML standard still lacks it? Particularly on a 
website, there will always be bits of code that are common to all the 
various pages that make it up, for example the navigation and copy 
write/contact code.

Received on Saturday, 9 May 2009 18:22:23 UTC