Why won’t dynamic SVG work if not handled via createElementNS

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It doesn’t work because the specifications say that SVG elements must exist in the SVG namespace and createElement creates elements in the html namepace. How would a parser know otherwise whether you wanted to create an html <a> element which works with a src attribute or a SVG <a> element for which an `xlink:href attribute is required.

In html where namespaces are not serialized things look the same. In XML where namespaces are serialized they don’t.

SVG in html looks like this…

<svg id="mydsvg" width="100" height="100">
  <circle cx="50" cy="50" r="40" stroke="green" stroke-width="4" fill="yellow" />
</svg>

SVG as a standalone document would look like this

<svg xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" id="mydsvg" width="100" height="100">
  <circle cx="50" cy="50" r="40" stroke="green" stroke-width="4" fill="yellow" />
</svg>

The circle inherits the namespace of its parent.

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