What are XHTML, DHTML, XML ... ?

I'm a little confused about all this ...ML languages.
Can somebody explain me in a few words what are they used for ?
What should I learn after HTML ? XHTML, DHTML, XML, or maybe just PHP ?
Does DHTML and PHP have the same purpouse (building of dynamic web pages)
so basicly I don't have to learn both ? Thanks for any help

BOOGIEMAN wrote:

I'm a little confused about all this ...ML languages.
Can somebody explain me in a few words what are they used for ?
What should I learn after HTML ? XHTML, DHTML, XML, or maybe just PHP ?
Does DHTML and PHP have the same purpouse (building of dynamic web pages)
so basicly I don't have to learn both ? Thanks for any help

DHTML does not need the server support like PHP does.
DHTML is integrated in the HTML page and needs browser that support DHTML.
PHP can not only replace frames, there are hundreds of tasks when you use
PHP. Search for WAMP(Win) or LAMP(Linux) or MAMP(? - Mac Apache MySQL PHP).
XML seperates data and display, you need a browser which supports XML and
XHTML is an integration of XML into HTML.



--
Jan

http://linux.janfaerber.com

BOOGIEMAN wrote:

I'm a little confused about all this ...ML languages.
Can somebody explain me in a few words what are they used for ?
What should I learn after HTML ? XHTML, DHTML, XML, or maybe just PHP ?
Does DHTML and PHP have the same purpouse (building of dynamic web pages)
so basicly I don't have to learn both ? Thanks for any help

XML is a way of representing data inside tags. You can define your own
tags and structure, so long as you describe it. It's really a server
side thing, but there is some limited client support too. RSS (if you've
heard of that) news feeds are XML documents.

XHTML is just "HTML 5". It's a more structured version of HTML, which
sits nicely with the XML structure of things. It is very easy to
translate an XML document into an XML documents (and visa versa) using
another technology called XSLT. Useful if you have data that needs to be
presented on lots of platforms.

DHTML is a loose combination of HTML (or XHTML), plus CSS plus
JavaScript. It all works via something called the DOM (document object
model), which is a way of referencing objects within a document so that
you can manipulate them through JavaScript.

DHTML is client side - it runs inside a web browser, and requires
JavaScript to be enabled.

Dynamic web sites (dynamic content, rather than dynamic front ends)
require a server side solution, such as PHP, ASP or JSP. So, if you want
a web site to get stuff from a database, you could use ASP. You could
NOT use DHTML as DHTML only runs inside your browser (not on the server).


--


x theSpaceGirl (miranda)

# lead designer @ http://www.dhnewmedia.com #
# remove NO SPAM to email, or use form on website #

"Jan Faerber" <jancfaerber_spider (AT) monkey_hotmail (DOT) com> wrote

BOOGIEMAN wrote:

Oh my. I actually started to reply to your original post but then, well, it
started raining and the rain became more interesting. Then it stopped
raining and I saw this post.

I'm a little confused about all this ...ML languages.

ML? Markup Language?

Can somebody explain me in a few words what are they used for ?

Describing the content of a web document so the browser can render it sort
of like the author intended it to be rendered.

What should I learn after HTML

CSS.

XHTML

HTML is an SGML application. XHTML is exactly the same application expressed
in XML. There is no difference (except for the SGML -> XML differences)
between HTML and XHTML. In addition the most common browser in use simply
does not understand XHTML. Don't bother with it just now.

DHTML

DHTML is a microsoft invented acronym, [D]ynamic [html]. It really means
HTML, and CSS with JScript (microsofts version of JavaScript) used to
manipulate the DOM.

XML

See above.

or maybe just PHP ?

PHP is an entirely different animal. It is a server side scripting language.
Nothing to do with (X)HTML nor javascript nor "DHTML".

Does DHTML and PHP have the same purpouse

No. "DHTML", or rather javascript, is client side. PHP is server side.

(building of dynamic web pages)

Define a "dynamic" web page.

If you mean a page that changes with user interaction without contact with
the server then javascript is the tool, providing that it is available to
your user so don't rely on it for anything other than eye candy.

If you mean a page that changes due to some change in a database or whatever
then PHP or one of the other server side scripting languages is in order.

so basicly I don't have to learn both ? Thanks for any help

Both? Well, it pays to learn them all :-)

Now, as to Jan....

DHTML does not need the server support like PHP does.

Correct. Althouth "DHTML" *does* need client side support. Hint: the search
engine bots don't understand javascript.

DHTML is integrated in the HTML page and needs browser that support DHTML.

No it is not. "DHTML" is Jscript manipulating the DOM. It is *added* to the
HTML page. As eye candy.

and needs browser that support DHTML.

Yes, well I suppose one could say that DHTML requires a browser that
supports DHTML, just as one could say that javascript requires a browser
that supports javascript.

PHP can not only replace frames, there are hundreds of tasks when you use

Er. PHP is server side. Frames are client side. How then could PHP possibly
replace frames.

Oh, I know what you mean, you mean that one can use PHP includes etc to
provide some of the functionality (from the authors point of view) of
frames. Well, yes I suppose so :-)

PHP. Search for WAMP(Win) or LAMP(Linux) or MAMP(? - Mac Apache MySQL
PHP).

er, why?

XML seperates data and display,

Nope.

you need a browser which supports XML and

Not many current browsers support XML. Many of them support XHTM, with one
glaring exception.

XHTML is an integration of XML into HTML.

Er I really don't think so. XML into HTML? See above

On Tue, 01 Feb 2005 13:11:56 GMT, rf wrote:

Oh my. I actually started to reply to your original post but then, well, it
started raining and the rain became more interesting.

I know that watching rain is much more interesting than answering my
questions and I thank you and others for giving yourself a time to write an
answer. I think I'll just start learning simple HTML for now, and then if
I ever scent a need to learn more, I'll find it myself if need to learn
DHTML, CSS, PHP or who knows what.

On Tue, 01 Feb 2005 16:09:12 +0100, BOOGIEMAN wrote:

if I ever scent a need to learn more, I'll find it myself if need to learn

I scented one of those this morning.

--
JDS | jeffrey (AT) go (DOT) away.com

http://www.newtnotes.com

You should try using firefox.
It understands XHTML quite well.

How does a browser know what the author intended?
It's only doing what it is told to.

SpaceGirl wrote:

XML is a way of representing data inside tags. You can define your own
tags

Elements.

XHTML is just "HTML 5". It's a more structured version of HTML

No, it isn't: it's simply a different way or representing the
_same_structure_. The DOMs of <p/foobar/ and of <p>foobar</p> should be
exactly the same: they're simply different ways of saying the same thing.

Leif K-Brooks wrote:

SpaceGirl wrote:

XML is a way of representing data inside tags. You can define your own
tags


Elements.

I know, but I was KISS for the OP.

XHTML is just "HTML 5". It's a more structured version of HTML


No, it isn't: it's simply a different way or representing the
_same_structure_. The DOMs of <p/foobar/ and of <p>foobar</p> should be
exactly the same: they're simply different ways of saying the same thing.

Too pedantic. This is what I hate about web design. People are too
wrapped up in meaningless tech, making it impossible for newbies to
break in. EFFECTIVLY it's a different way of doing it, and when you are
WRITING it, the structure IS different. While technically it isn't, who
cares? It just doesn't matter. If you're trying to learn all of this
stuff replies like yours just make it even more confusing.

--


x theSpaceGirl (miranda)

# lead designer @ http://www.dhnewmedia.com #
# remove NO SPAM to email, or use form on website #

SpaceGirl wrote:

Too pedantic. This is what I hate about web design. People are too
wrapped up in meaningless tech, making it impossible for newbies to
break in.............. If you're trying to learn all of this
stuff replies like yours just make it even more confusing.

So, this forum is supposed to be based on Luddite webmastery?
-- lowest-common-denominator based pedagogy?

And I thought this was a forum to *discuss* html, not just a help desk.
Silly me. ;{