[whatwg] Textarea Wishlist

[Ryan Johnson]

> Thnking a little more, I think that the first partt of this idea alone 
> (i.e. an attribute to specify the data type expected in a text area) 
> would be useful enough to implement alone. This would allow browsers 
> to implement syntax highlighting, check for XML well-formedness and 
> provide access to helper applications relevant to the data type.
>

How much of an undertaking do you think this will be? I.e. does anybody 
realistically think a browser manufacturer will impliment this anytime 
in the next 10 years? Guess I'm just curious, because I see it as such 
an important feature. Being able to talk about, edit, and program code 
of various types within a web browser that is capable of highlighting 
and detecting errors (missing brackets, etc); would be nothing short of 
revolutionary. Imagine rentacoder.com combined with SubThaEdit all in 
your favorite web browser...

Anyway, I think that it might be quite a jump for manufacturers. I also 
see that a standard language would need to be decided upon just to 
describe the structure of the programming languages. Is it worth the 
time to come up with suggestions and examples of a programming language 
definition markup, or is my head in the clouds? - Ryan