Re: WML vs XHTML Basic

michael.claiborne@alltel.com wrote:

> I have been reading up on developing markup languages,  and wonder if
> somone could provide me clarification on this.
> 
> I understand WML and XHTML Basic to be competing specifications from the
> WAP Forum and W3C,  respectively,  for displaying content on mobile
> devices.

No, they are not competing, rather, complementing.  There is a plan to
use XHTML Basic as a basis for future version of WML.  Thus, future
version of WML may be developed on top of XHTML Basic.  That's why
"4. How to Use XHTML Basic" [1] of the XHTML Basic specification says
"... the intention with its simple design is to use it as a host
language".  And as the same section says, "[t]he point is that XHTML
Basic always is the common language that user agents supports".  So
content developers may reasonably expect that XHTML Basic documents
will be processed by wide variety of user agents, including (future)
WML browsers.  That's the rationale of developing XHTML Basic.

[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WD-xhtml-basic-19991221/#s_howtouse

Regards,
-- 
Masayasu Ishikawa / mimasa@w3.org
W3C - World Wide Web Consortium

Received on Monday, 10 January 2000 02:43:16 UTC