PHP short open tag vs long open tag [duplicate]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Are PHP short tags acceptable to use?

Which is better to use, or considered better practice: <?php or <?. I've always wanted to know. Or is it more of a preference for the programmer.

Answer 1

<?php is the official standard. I've never encountered a problem where a browser was confused, but just using <? can also declare XML and might not be the best habit to form.

I'll tell you this though - other programmers will always appreciate the standard. I would go with <?php for sure.

Answer 2

<?php - always, definitely.

Several reasons; the biggest being "disambiguates PHP from SGML (e.g. XML)".