Editorial Reviews:
For courses covering HTML and web development that focus on the movement to XHTML. XHTML By Example explains the differences between XHTML and HTML, while teaching students how to use XHTML. It explains the concept of 'well-formedness', which is critical in XHTML, but not so in HTML. It also covers guidelines for the transition to XHTML, XML, DTD's and Schemas. It relates these concepts to XHTML and how XHTML can provide content to Palm devices, pagers, and cell phones. XHTML By Example also provides information on more advanced topics such as Extended Forms, and XHTML Basic.
While Ian Graham's two excellent Wiley titles (the XHTML 1.0 Language and Design Sourcebook and the companion volume XHTML 1.0 Web Development Sourcebook) have certainly set a high standard for books about HTML's latest incarnation, there is room left for other publications, especially those that are accessible to the beginner and not simply masquerading as such. Books as well written as XHTML by Example are particularly welcome. Ann Navarro, of the W3C XHTML Working Group, has penned a clear and concise yet comprehensive introduction that is sure to be of great value to both newcomers (the book takes little for granted) and the more experienced (it is detailed and thorough). Starting with an overview of the fundamentals of XHTML's new structures, identifying its differences from HTML 4, and then moving on to an introduction to its semantics, Navarro is always a steady guide, providing plenty of example code to help clarify the situation. The book discusses Web essentials such as forms, tables, and frames and goes on to further chapters on XHTML style, CSS and XSL, modularization, and the future of the language. XHTML by Example comes highly recommended to those who like their computer books written clearly and aren't particularly fond of a morass of often tedious detail. --Mark Thwaite, Amazon.co.uk
Customer Reviews:
 Enough examples already
I was looking for info on XHTML modularization. There were pages of examples with little explanation. I like examples, but if I can't understand them they aren't very helpful. Try the XHTML Black Book instead.  Lightweight
I'd say that "lightweight" best describes this book. There's precious little here that you can't find in other, better books on the topic, but it does seem to hit the minimum information you'd expect from an XHTML book. It's almost as if this were meant to be a larger book, but portions were cut; it's physically smaller than nearly any other book on this topic.While size certainly isn't the primary consideration for a book's quality, it may be reflective of a lack of completeness -- and I believe it's true in this case. The author seems competent enough with the material, but there is not much to recommend this peculiarly lightweight book over others on the same topic.  It shows you how easy it is to transition from HTML to XHTML
In the absence of information about it, many experienced HTML programmers are a bit uncertain about XHTML. Some of this uncertainty is generated by the semantics of the new version rather than the substance. We have gone through the iterations of HTML 1.0 through 4.0 and rather than having a new version numbered 5.0 we have a new name for it. This suggests a fundamental shift in the focus and gives the appearance of increased complexity.
That is more appearance than reality. XHTML is HTML based on the organizational structure of XML. Nearly all of the HTML that you have grown to know and love will still work just as well as it did before. Even in the cases where changes need to be made, they are almost always in the direction of greater organization and reduced ambiguity.
This book, written and reviewed by members of the W3C XHTML working group, describes all of the differences between HTML and XHTML. As the title suggests, the differences are described by the presentation of short direct examples rather than descriptions and long blocks of code. In general, the explanations are thorough and everyone with an understanding of HTML will have no trouble in following them.
There was one omission that I find very puzzling. When using the components that can be placed in an HTML form, the reference names were assigned using the name=" " attribute. However, the XHTML standards are unambiguous when stating, "XHTML 1.0 documents MUST use the id attribute when defining fragment identifiers, even on elements that historically have also had a name attribute." Granted that the current situation often requires that both be used, this omission is the one glaring weakness of the book.
XHTML is not a complex extension of HTML. It is in many ways a tightening of the rules, making the creation and parsing of XHTML files cleaner and less ambiguous. This is clearly a direction that the industry will follow and there is no doubt that it is a language that must be learned by all HTML coders. This book will help you do that in a very gentle way.
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