Does validating matter?
A lot of people talking about validated CSS and XHTML, I didn’t care that even now, however, according to most webmasters, validated CSS and XHTML is very useful, hence every web that you built must be valid. When I asked why is it useful and how it useful to a webmaster, the answers were uncertain, and I assume these webmasters just wanna be cool like teenagers who smoke.
Validating a web by putting these buttons on it are just like people claiming themselves as genius but the fact is unknown. I’m not talking about you know it is valid, rather you know it’s a web. Let’s put a more simplicity question, “What is the job for CSS and XHTML?“.
The main objective for XHTML is to structure a web and CSS is to beautify the web. Jobs done! However, some people claim that in order to make sure all the browser will show out same, validating is needed. Trust me, if it works on FireFox, it works on most browser, try to forget about Internet Explorer. IE is a total pain in the ass, apparently Microsoft still want to be unique even on coding a web for IE 
For me, as a webmaster for sometimes now, I think validating is not important. I’m a Mac user, so IE is a problem for me, however, I tried to make sure that all my web working fine in FireFox and Safari, it will reduce the risk of having the web shows out messily on IE. SimplyWP.net is valid CSS and XHTML, but will I continue maintain it as valid? Definitely no, because I really don’t give a damn, just my two cent 
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[...] it’s a mess. Sometimes I can’t see the entrecard widget too. Either tried to validate the code or simply use some more browsers to browse your blog to make sure it’s [...]
Thats a really nice article,well written – i really liek your style of writing!
Validation, as far as the back-end is concerned, really has nothing to do with how to beautify the web. Trust me when I say I’ve come across numerous websites where the CSS and XHTML were valid but the site itself looked absolutely horrible.
My reason for validation, yes is cross-browser compatibility. However, there are margin issues with IE and while I’m primarily a Mac user (except for my laptop), I still have to code for clients who use IE6 and IE7. You don’t want to do that sometimes, but in most cases you have no real choice in the matter.
Another reason for validation, is search engine optimization. The cleaner the code, the easier it is for search engines to pick up your website and rank it accordingly. If the key terms of the page are properly executed then you’ll notice an increase of archives when searching your site on Google.
There are still many aspects of Validation that W3 hasn’t picked up on, mainly in regards to .SWF. Eventually I assume it will all be integrated, but for now if you link a youtube video (or even one you just found on the net or created yourself) you’ll notice that your once valid website is now showing all kinds of funky errors.
It really depends on what you’re using it for, honestly.
Sure, if you have a personal blog you shouldn’t really care but if you do that shows you’ve put some effort into your overall site, not just the appearance. When it comes to businesses however – it’s either valid or I don’t hand it over to the client.
Correct, doing something for client require a validated file. But hey, validate doesn’t mean it shows good in IE too