[whatwg] Allow trailing slash in always-empty HTML5 elements?

[Robert Sayre]

On 11/29/06, Lachlan Hunt <lachlan.hunt at lachy.id.au> wrote:
>
> I do not think it's a good idea to make the trailing slash conforming.
> Although it is harmless, it provides no additional benefit at all and it
> creates the false impression that the syntax actually does something.

It does do something, in systems that think they are using XML
(whether they actually are is another matter). It's possible it will
prevent  many information-free validation errors, and give the HTML5
more credibility as a result. Warning people about <img /> in the
validator is a waste of their time.

> It's not a
> good idea to confuse them any more by giving the impression that it
> works for some elements but not others.  It's better to just say it
> doesn't work at all and forbid it in all cases.
>

Better? This is an opinion, and it's not backed up by data. So far, it
looks like Sam has the data on his side. People do it, and it tends to
work interoperably.

-- 

Robert Sayre