validator question (simple)

[james438]

would you say that getting a site w3c valid will make a script 99% cross browser compatible?

[jscheuer1]

No. The validation process doesn't check your script code for javascript errors or good coding practices. You could have a valid page with a totally non-working script on it.

[james438]

could someone remind me again why getting a site w3c validated is important?

[thetestingsite]

To my understanding, it is to make the site layout/design compatible with most (if not all) modern browsers. Not 100% on this though.

[boxxertrumps]

If your webpage is standards compliant, it should display almost the same in standards compliant browsers.
If there were no standards, the web would have nearly no benefit, other than transmitting plain text.

[djr33]

It's also very helpful when you post on this site, so that we don't have to guess what random techniques you've used to hack the html into working. If it's standard html, then it's usually fairly easy to figure out what is wrong with a page or what to add. If it isn't standard, there's no guarantee that code we fix/add will work.

[Twey]

If there were no standards, the web would have nearly no benefit, other than transmitting plain text.

It wouldn't do that either -- ASCII, Latin1, and all the other, more advanced encodings, are all standards The only thing that is transmitted is streams of electricity. Standards make the Internet go 'round.

[jscheuer1]

could someone remind me again why getting a site w3c validated is important?

I think all of the answers given so far to the above question are good, if incomplete.

If there were no standards, the web would have nearly no benefit, other than transmitting plain text.

It wouldn't do that either -- ASCII, Latin1, and all the other, more advanced encodings, are all standards The only thing that is transmitted is streams of electricity. Standards make the Internet go 'round.

I'm singling you out Twey, because I like you, and I think you should know better. What I said above goes for you too, good (even true in a way), but incomplete. One thing I think should be added to it is that standards are one of the things that make the web work. Obviously, standards alone will not a world wide web make. Even though standards, in principal, allow for accessibility, it is the flexibility and general efficacy of browsers that extend that to those not rigorously schooled in the standards. Content providers are essential. I could go on and on, but it is likely a complete answer would be either impossible or extremely long.

So, my additional 2 cents on the original question quoted at the top of this post:

Validating your code vastly reduces the uncertainties involved in sharing it with others, and with publishing it for consumption via user agents (browsers, etc.) who/that understand valid code.

It is no substitute for effort and knowing what you are doing, but it almost always can work with and enhance that.

Still incomplete, but I'm trying to watch a ballgame.

[james438]

Lots of different and good reasons. I guess I just needed a bit of a reminder because I was getting a bit bogged down with all of the errors on my site. This is the first time that I am really trying to get my site standards compliant after two years of working on it.

[jscheuer1]

Lots of different and good reasons. I guess I just needed a bit of a reminder because I was getting a bit bogged down with all of the errors on my site. This is the first time that I am really trying to get my site standards compliant after two years of working on it.

If you need help validating a particular effect/attribute/tag, etc., that's part of why we are here, just ask. There are alternatives to most things that don't validate, and reasons why to avoid those things that just can't be validated*. After you get a bit of experience under your belt, validation isn't nearly such a big deal. Think of it as a spell checker.



*Some things you may think that you 'need to have' just cannot be validated to a particular standard. If you really need to use it, you should use a less strict DOCTYPE for that page to protect it from being degraded before its time.