Demise of HTML? Really?

Joined: Mar 16, 2006 Posts: 12

I wonder whether you can advise please?

I have been doing web designing for some time, using my trusty Dreamweaver package. I have now been informed that HMTL, and particularly Tables within it, is on its way out, and will not be supported by the end of next year, rendering my pages inaccessible. I find this incredible, given the masses of pages that rely on HTML, but that is I'm being told very firmly! I am also told that I must learn PHP and SQL as a priority.

I may have got the wrong end of the stick, but if, and it is a big IF, this impending change is true, this leaves me with some questions! Crying or Very sad

First, as one who reads most newsletters and magazines, has there been no mention I can recall of this impending change? Is there a conspiracy of silence? Are "they who know best" about to spring it on us?

Secondly, why is it that nearly all the software for web building uses HTML, and is there no equivalent Dreamweaver-type program for PHP? I have been to several retailers specialising in computer software, and nobody can offer anything other than to volunteer that that kind of stuff is for "tecchies".

Thirdly, apart from on-line courses I seem to be unable to find, where I live, courses for people wanting to come to terms with the new language? Might this not indicate that my fears are groundless?

Fourthly, if there's no alternative but to go along this way, what is the best book or on-line course that will (gently!) help a non-tecchie to come to terms with it all?

Awaiting your wise counsel with a mixture of excitement and sheer dread! Shocked

Robert

Joined: Jan 29, 2004 Posts: 1701 Location: Phoenix, AZ

Moving away from tables and into CSS has been a movement for quite some time actually. I have seen no evidence that any browsers will be pulling support for table-based layouts though. Think of the disaster that would follow from an abrupt change like that when a very large amount of websites that we visit on a daily basis still use older versions of HTML (hint: check the source of this page!).

In truth, tables will probably always exist as an (X)HTML entity because they are extremely useful in displaying large quantities of data. While they aren't appropriate for formatting a page, they still offer use that will allow for those types of hacks to be used for a long time.

As for migrating your own pages to XHTML, versions of Dreamweaver for several years have had the option of generating XHTML code. I'd backup your site before trying it, but the tools are already there. Don't worry, this isn't nearly as bad as you think!