When W3C scalable vector graphics became the recommended specification for two-dimensional vector graphics in 2001, the XML language was considered an optimal solution for the representation of such graphics, both in static and animated forms. But at the time, browsers had not yet been developed to a point that was suitable for the new SVG format; in the case of the Internet Explorer, external plugins such as the Adobe SVG Viewer and the Batik SVG Toolkit from Apache were mandatory in order to read and display XML graphics for a long time. Additionally, webmasters were faced with the task of providing a fallback solutiontouse PNG graphics.
Since web browsers have adapted to accommodate HTML5, time-consuming measures like this are no longer necessary; the HTML5 parser makes it possible to integrate SVG elements directly into the HTML code without specifying the XML namespace that informs the browser of the context of the embedded elements. This eliminates the need for a specific parser and plug-ins.
In contrast to raster and pixel graphics, graphics in an SVG file format are generally distinguished by the fact that they mark out individual graphical objects from a mathematical standpoint and do not fit into a pixel grid. For this reason, scalable vector graphics can be used to scale geometric shapes, icons, technical drawings, fonts, icons, and logos withoutquality loss. These images do not show the aliasing effect typical of raster graphics, in which individual pixels appear. Check out our comparative guide to find out more about the differences between pixel and vector graphics.