SGML and HTML Obsolescence

If there is one truth about computers, it is this: It is only a matter of time before anything becomes obsolete. The same applies to SGML and HTML. Someone will someday create another super application that will make SGML obsolete.

HTML has already become “obsolete” twice, and the third time is in the works with the third revision to the HTML DTD. Instead of obsolescence, a better term is evolution. It is the process of outgrowing one paradigm and moving on to another one.

The next five years will probably see full SGML interchange in place on the World Wide Web. It is inevitable. Too many people are working with too many diverse types of documents to be satisfied with a single DTD. The short-term issue is how to handle the transition to full SGML implementation—either with external SGML add-ons to existing browsers, or with a new browser that is fully SGML aware.

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• See “SGML’s Future on the Web,” p. 379

• See “Current Collaborative Projects on the Web,” and “Collaboration on SGML Standards,” pp. 519, 523

• See “What Can a DTD Do for Object-Oriented Development?” p. 537

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Add-ons—such as Panorama, and even VRML browser add-ons and further plug-ins to existing HTML browsers—will most likely continue being popular on the Net. New SGML-aware browsers will find their way into the shareware market. This will be a test bed for new applications.

HTML will never become obsolete, but your needs will outgrow it. HTML will probably become a smaller part of the overall markup language picture. Today’s tools will outgrow their current paradigms. Full SGML is the next step because it can accommodate so many other applications and diversity.

From Here…

You are just starting on the World Wide Web and SGML. It’s an exciting subject. In this chapter, you learned where HTML came from and how it’s related to SGML. SGML is its parent. SGML can add flexibility. You saw what SGML could do for the World Wide Web if it were incorporated as the Web’s standard.

For more information, refer to the following:

•  Chapter 18, “SGML’s Emergence on the World Wide Web,” contains a brief history of SGML on the Web and discusses what the future holds.

•  Chapter 19, “Should You Upgrade to SGML?” discusses whether to upgrade your Web site to SGML.

•  Chapter 20, “Practicalities of Working with SGML on the Web,” discusses where to find tools and how to change your thinking.

•  Chapter 21, “Integrating SGML and HTML Environments,” compares the compromises and complications involved in doing SGML in an HTML world; it covers the tools that will help you the most.

•  Chapter 22, “Developing for the World Wide Web,” discusses what is already happening on the Web and how to make an innovative SGML Web page.