On Sep 14, 2005, at 12:40 AM, heretic wrote:
At 03:44 PM 9/7/2005, Christian Montoya wrote:
I was actually thinking the other day, browsers should be more like
compilers... they should refuse to parse incorrect code. Then the
enforcement would be on the output end, too.
Why on earth would I want to use a browser that refused to show me
pages that didn't validate? I'd be blocked from seeing 98% of what's
on the internet.
...
Realistically the horse long since bolted on the concept. But imagine
two scenarios:
1) Code compilers were as forgiving as browsers
In this scenario, it wouldn't matter how broken, inefficient or
vulnerable (security holes) the program was; the compiler would
cheerfully let it through and it could end up on your computer.
Now think about how often you have to patch the average windows
machine to plug up the latest hole. Imagine how much worse it would be
if there was even less standards enforcement! :)
Meaning, that I could teach my mom to program effectively in an
afternoon? That artists and journalists would get basic programming
skills covered in the first two weeks of class? That about one out of
three people interested in software would actually be able to program
it -- unlike the one out of maybe twenty now?
How horrible. :)
2) Browsers were as unforgiving as compilers
If this had always been the case, everything you could view on the web
would be standards-compliant.
When I first started learning HTML, I viewed-source on the "Yahoo"
page. The only Page. They hadn't bought a domain yet. They had a
message at the bottom of the page, after having listed a couple
hundred categorized links, "If you know of another URL not on this
list, please let us know." If browsers were as restrictive as
compilers, *none* of those sites would even exist, because they were
all done in the free time of professors, students, internet
aficionados, and hackers with better things to do. But HTML was so
easy and forgiving, everyone was trying their hand at it. Three years
after explaining what a URL was, they were on billboards and ads
everywhere. That's faster adoption than the DVD had at about the same
time.
Making browsers forgiving is part of the core ideology of the Web. I
wouldn't discard it so casually.
--
Ben Curtis : webwright
bivia : a personal web studio
http://www.bivia.com
v: (818) 507-6613
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