Selecting an Editor for XHTML Documentation:-

Before you create your first XHTML document, you need to select a text editor to work in. You can choose from many; which one you end up using is a matter of personal preference and availability. Some markup purists insist that no "helping features" be available in an editor, as they consider it to be the only way to acquire markup skills. So they use either Notepad on Windows or the vi editor for Unix.

What to Use

Literally dozens of HTML and XHTML authoring tools are on the market today in retail, shareware, or even freeware format. These may simply be enhanced text editors that automatically highlight your XHTML tags in various colors or make a spell checker available to you, or they may provide built-in macros to handle repetitive markup tasks. Quite a few of the authoring tools profess to provide WYSIWYG control over your layout—that is, "what you see is what you get." However, that really should be amended to "what you see is what you and only you get."

As we know, each browser version may display document elements in a different manner. Sometimes in a very different manner! So you know that a Pentium III-powered PC running Windows 2000 and Netscape Navigator 6 will present a very different picture than the old 486 running Windows 95 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 3. So how can a tool guarantee that everyone will see your page the way you do? For the most part, it can't—at least not completely.

Now, no one is purporting that the creators of these tools have developed a group case of dottiness. To the contrary, many of these tools can be very handy, when—and only when—the user is aware of how the programs produce the Web page. Do they produce markup that makes use of browser-specific tags? Do they heavily rely on tables for layout? Will they allow you to tweak the code yourself?

Keep this point in mind: Before you can use authoring tools intelligently, you must have a sound comprehension of the underlying XHTML processes. Each skill in this book will provide you with the background behind each element, in order to help you choose the best possible presentation for your projects. Once you become experienced in making the choices, you may pick an authoring tool that saves you time by automating some choices and processes for you. Until then, it's best to follow the tradition of "learning by doing."