HTML5 vs XHTML

Differences Between HTML5 vs XHTML

HTML is the language developed mainly for the web. It was the first internet-based language. Almost all the things that are displayed in a browser is done through HTML. HTML is central to the web development process. HTML can be defined as having static structure, organization, and its content. First that basic HTML document also called as markup document is created then other dynamic aspects of a site is usually embedded into that file be it a JavaScript-based function to add interactivity or server-side scripts to connect the website to its data source, and then also CSS files that add stylistic elements to the page. All these files can are linked to the HTML file, making almost like a backbone of the site.

HTML5 vs XHTML  are newer versions of HTML. Where XHTML is essentially HTML4 with some additional features, HTML5 is the latest version.

In this HTML5 vs XHTML article, we shall compare the key benefits of each of these technologies and understand their key difference between HTML5 and XHTML.

Head to Head Comparison Between HTML5 and XHTML (Infographics)

Below is the top 8 difference between HTML5 and XHTML:

Key Differences Between HTML5 and XHTML

Both HTML5 vs XHTML are popular choices in the market; let us discuss some of the major Difference Between HTML5 and XHTML .HTML5 is not actually a rejection of XHTML. HTML5  has some of the most used features of both HTML 4 and XHTML and the same is mentioned below:

1 – Simple doctype

The doctype definition (or as most often mentioned as the boilerplate code which every web page begins with) for XHTML was actually really complicated. For example, even people who taught in the classes and wrote books on HTML5 could never memorize the doctype. They always had to copy and paste it. HTML5, on the other hand, has a very simple and clean document definition. It is so easy that once again it is possible to create a webpage from memory.

2 – Content and Style Separation

HTML5 most commonly does not include the style tags from HTML 4. Instead, HTML5 requires developers to use CSS for all kind of stylings. Similarly, frames and table-based layout are not encouraged in favor of CSS-style layout.

3 – Validation Support

Validation is actually a very useful tool hence HTML5 can be validated much like XHTML. The W3C validator as of now supports HTML5 and many other validation tools are also coming online. Validation is an easy way to eliminate coding mistakes, it can and greatly simplify coding once the users start adding programming support to code documents.

4 – Strict Tradition

The coding standards of HTML5 are more similar to XHTML than another variant, HTML 4. Although it’s still possible to use nonstandard coding in HTML5, most of the time developers use the strict standards of XHTML to ensure the code is easier to read for others and more predictable.

5 – Tight Integration with CSS and other Programming Languages

The most important feature of HTML5 is its humility, probably. While HTML is still dominating and is the central language of the Internet when distributing control to other languages comes into the picture, HTML5 is a clear winner. HTML5 is designed as a mechanism that ties together many additional technologies such as CSS for visual layout, server-side languages like PHP for server control, JavaScript for client-side programming and databases.

6 -Newer Capabilities

Several new features of HTML5 are not basically, technically HTML but advances in many other related technologies such as integrated databases or new CSS features, new JavaScript syntax etc.

HTML5 and XHTML Comparison Table

The primary comparison between HTML5 and XHTML  are discussed below:

HTML5	XHTML
HTML5 is HTML’s latest and probably the best evolution. It is the most versatile game-changer. HTML5 has added a ton of new features to its repository thereby made it do so much more.	XHTML is predominantly identical to HTML4 which was the fourth edition of HTML. The one difference between the two was that XHTML came with elements of XML that extended HTML’s capabilities.
HTML5 is a hybrid of three types of code and these are HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.	XHTML came earlier than HTML5 and later than HTML4. So the correct sequence is HTMl4, XHTML and HTML5.
HTML5 provides faster and more efficient working for developers.	XHTML is applied to solve some cross-browser compatibility issues and offers the best of both worlds kind of scenario.
The resulting site architecture of HTML5 is agile and mobile-friendly. It is also compatible with almost all modern browsers.	XHTML syntax is a little bit stricter than HTML thus providing more precise standards. It also does specifications for how a website’s data is broken down before transmission and transmitted.
HTML5 solves problems that XHTML before it tried to address. It ensures better compatibility across many more browsers.	XHTML is written in the same format as an XML application, which is a key distinction point. XML is another descriptive markup language.  XML functions more or less like a compliment to HTML
HTML5 contains many new APIs and features such as drawing, drag-and-drop, and video playback. These features are such types that developers could not implement before and would need the help of third-party plug-ins.	A lot of reason for which XHTML was designed has also been covered with HTML5. This made XHTML nearly obsolete.
HTML5 solved those kinds of problems that XHTML was designed to fix	XHTML was mainly designed to fix problems that were there with HTML
HTML5 is most preferred and XHTML is rarely used now.	XHMTL syntax is more strict and limited in scope than HTML5.

Conclusion

HTML started as a very simple language for designing web-based pages as mentioned in the introduction section. XHTML arose as a need when web development expanded beyond the limited horizon and professional programmers needed a language beyond HTML 4 capability. The strict version of XHTML also called as Extensible Hypertext Markup Language then came into the picture and was considered much more precise and predictable and fault-tolerant than HTML 4.

Later, XHTML could not really catch on. Developers especially those people who were integrating many programming languages in their project like JavaScript and PHP loved XHTML Strict but it benefited too little and the huge amount of pages never really bothered to conform to the new standards. Thus, when the time came to give birth to a new standard, the World Wide Web Consortium decided in favor of supporting HTML5 and not XHTML 2.

Recommended Articles

This has been a guide to the top difference between HTML5 vs XHTML. Here we have discussed HTML5 vs XHTML head to head comparison, key differences along with infographics and comparison table. You may also have a look at the following HTML5 vs XHTML articles to learn more –

1. HTML vs XML
2. HTML vs HTML5
3. HTML5 vs JavaScript
4. HTML vs JavaScript