Web Design in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

The Modularization of XHTML

In a world where HTML content is being used on devices as varied as cell phones, desktop computers, refrigerator panels, dashboard consoles, and more, a “one-size-fits-all” content markup language will no longer work. Modularization is the solution to this problem. Instead of one comprehensive set of elements, this Recommendation defines a way to break XHTML into task-specific modules. A module is a set of elements that handle one aspect or type of object in a document.

Modularization is the way of the future for markup standards. This approach has a number of benefits:

• Special devices and applications can mix and match modules based on their requirements and restraints.

• It prevents spin-off, device-specific languages. Authors can create their own XML modules, leaving the XHTML standard unscathed.

• It allows “hybrid” documents in which several DTDs are used in combination. For instance, in theory, it allows web documents to have SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) modules or MathML modules mixed in with the XHTML content, though the details of making this work have yet to be figured out as of the time of this writing.

The Modularization of XHTML Recommendation was initially released in April 2001. A Second Edition of the Recommendation was introduced as a Working Draft in February 2004.