XHTML Interview Questions and Answers

What is XHTML?
Answer1:
XHTML is a more formal, stricter version of HTML. XHTML is defined by an XML dtd which makes it much easier to handle.

Answer2:
* XHTML stands for eXtensible Hyper Text Markup Language.
* It is aimed to replace HTML.
* It is almost identical to HTML 4.01
* It is the reformulation of HTML 4.01 as an application of XML.
* It is a stricter, tidier version of HTML.
XHTML 1.0 is the next level of coding as specified by the W3C.
XHTML is a transition / combination of HTML and XML. To change from HTML to XHTML requires just a few changes in your coding styles. The main page to check out is CONVERTING but all the others provide valuable information about this coding technique as well.
XHTML provides the framework for future extensions of HTML and aims to replace HTML in the future. Some resources refer to XHTML as HTML5.
XHTML 1.0 became an official W3C recommendation on January 26, 2000. A W3C recommendation means that the specification is stable, that it has been reviewed by the W3C membership, and that the specification is now a Web standard.
XHTML 1.0 is the first step toward a modular and extensible web environment based on XML (eXtensible Markup Language). It provides the bridge for web designers to use a future based coding and still be able to maintain compatibility with today's browsers.
XHTML is a stricter and cleaner version of HTML.

Answer3:
* XHTML stands for EXtensible HyperText Markup Language
* XHTML is aimed to replace HTML
* XHTML is almost identical to HTML 4.01
* XHTML is a stricter and cleaner version of HTML
* XHTML is HTML defined as an XML application
* XHTML is a W3C Recommendation
XHTML is a combination of HTML and XML (EXtensible Markup Language).
XHTML consists of all the elements in HTML 4.01 combined with the syntax of XML.
Advantages of using XHTML instead of HTML
1. Documents can be validated much easier
2. Documents can be transformed via tools like XSLT into other documents for consumption by devices like handhelds
3. Fragments of documents can be retrieved faster
4. Text can be stored more effieciently in object oriented databases

Answer4:
The great thing about XHTML, though, is that it is almost the same as HTML, although it is much more important that you create your code correctly. You cannot make badly formed code to be XHTML compatible. Unlike with HTML (where simple errors (like missing out a closing tag) are ignored by the browser), XHTML code must be exactly how it is specified to be. This is due to the fact that browsers in handheld devices etc. don't have the power to show badly formatted pages so XHTML makes sure that the code is correct so that it can be used on any type of browser.

Answer54:
XHTML combines XML and HTML 4 to provide developers with a language that conforms to the XML format, as opposed to HTML which is based on SGML. XML is much simpler to parse than SGML, and standards exist such as XSLT, XPath, and XQuery for manipulating XML documents. Unfortunately, support for XHTML in browsers is poor, with the leading browser, Microsoft Internet Explorer, not supporting the XHTML mime type 'application/xhtml+xml'.

Why XHTML?

XHTML pages can be read by all XML enabled devices AND while waiting for the rest of the world to upgrade to XML supported browsers, XHTML gives you the opportunity to write "well-formed" documents now, that work in all browsers and that are backward browser compatible
Since 1990, HTML (or Hyper Text Markup Language) has been the language recommended for creating Web pages. And it has been very successful . But HTML has its problems. Without going into specifics, as it's not the subject of this article, HTML has become a mess. To sort this mess out, in 1999 the World Wide Web Consortium came up with XHTML. XHTML stands for eXtended Hyper Text Markup Language, and is written in a language called XML or eXtended Markup Language.
As the name implies, XHTML has the capability to be extended. You can use extra modules to do things with your pages that weren't possible with HTML. The long-term goal is that your Web pages will be able to be understood by computers as well as humans. How does this work? Allow me to explain.
You may be thinking that computers already understand Web pages because you use a computer to view them. This is true. But computers only understand how to display your pages, not what they mean. Imagine if computers did understand what Web pages meant! You could tell your computer to go and visit all of your local supermarket's Websites and report back to you on which store is the cheapest for this week's shopping. Your computer could visit the news sites around the world and bring back the latest headlines that relate to things you're interested in. The possibilities are endless.

Differences between XML and HTML
Since XML and HTML are derived from SGML they are similar, but have the following differences:
1. XML is case-sensitive
2. XML must have quotes (single or double) around attributes
3. Most interpreters of HTML are very forgiving about missing end tags - XML parses are not.
4. Comments start with <-- and end with -->. Inside a comment, "--" may not appear. Although this is fine in html, it confuses xml parsers.

How is XHTML better than HTML? Why would you want to use XHTML?
* to be able to take advantage of new coding techniques
* problems with the earlier versions have been fixed.

XHTML is a fairly close copy of HTML 4.01.

Extensibility : Under HTML, the addition of a new group of elements requires alteration of the entire DTD. XML greatly eases the integration of new element collections as it is a subset of SGML itself and specifies it's own DTD.
Portability : By the year 2002 as much as 75% of Internet access could be carried out on non-PC platforms such as palm computers, televisions, fridges, automobiles, telephones, etc. In most cases these devices will not have the computing power of a desktop computer, and will not be designed to accommodate ill-formed HTML as do current browsers.
Currently, the Netscape browser helps greatly for testing web pages by displaying blank or broken pages when it comes across sloppy coding. IE is the most forgiving browser and will show almost any page no matter the extent of coding errors.
While HTML itself isn't completely lacking in extensibility or portability but the evolution of it has been extremely slow compared to the pace of Internet development. This fuels the problems encountered trying to make your pages work on a wide range of browsers and platforms. XHTML will help to remedy those problems.

How To Get Ready For XHTML?
XHTML is not very different from HTML 4.01, so bringing your code up to the 4.01 standard is a good start. In addition, you should start NOW to write your HTML code in lowercase letters.
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The Most Important Differences:

* XHTML elements must be properly nested
* XHTML documents must be well-formed
* Tag names must be in lowercase
* All XHTML elements must be closed

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