W3C is likely to adopt the second versions of W3C recommendations, such as XSLT 2.0, XML Query, and XPath 2.0, within 2002 or early 2003. Further, a number of working drafts of new technologies such as XML Forms and XSL-FO either have just been recommended or are close to being so, and the W3C Graphics Working Group is coordinating closely with these other groups to ensure compat- ibility between the various standards. SVG as a  Piece of the Puzzle Ive been talking about SVG as a graphical format, but this is in fact somewhat misleading. You can certainly describe a graphic using SVG (indeed, almost every graphic in this book was originally generated using SVG), but it is important to realize that SVG is a language intended to work in conjunction with other lan- guages, most notably the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) but also scripting languages such as JavaScript, statically typed languages such as Java or C#, XSLT, XHTML (the XML version of HTML), and many others. To that end, its worthwhile to think of SVG as being a way of exposing graph- ical objects that other applications can use. For instance, SMIL is an XML-based language that in essence provides a way of correlating other languages and time- or event-based processes. The SVG animation elements work by providing an SVG structure on which to hang SMIL properties. Similarly, the SVG <script> ele- ment serves as a way to not only run programs within SVG documents but also to manipulate the SVG using a Document Object Model (DOM) that the SVG viewer exposes. Chapter 9, Integrating SVG and HTML, and Chapter 10, SVG Com- ponents, in this book also explore the fairly intimate way that SVG can work in conjunction with HTML or XHTML and how SVG can enhance HTML without replacing the benefits of using it. Finally, XSLT is a powerful tool for both generating SVG from XML resources and for extracting key information from SVG documents. You should not over- look this particular point because it opens up a view of a world where many significant processes are actually handled through the transformation of XML data into a variety of forms, including SVG. XSLT is quietly performing a transfor- mation on programming and application development as well, increasingly appearing as a core component in both Web and stand-alone applications, serv- ing as a generic engine within embedded systems, and performing more of the necessary but seemingly unimportant programming that makes networked com- puter systems interoperate. 11 Why SVG?