HTML is the unified language of the Web. These simple tags contained in angle brackets constitute today's Web. In 1991, Tim Berners-Lee wrote a document called "HTML Tags", which contains about 20 HTML tags used to mark web pages. He directly borrowed the markup format of SGML, which is the format of the HTML markup we saw later. This article tells a brief history of the development of HTML, the Web markup language.
From IETF to W3C: The road to HTML4
HTML1 did not exist. The first official version of HTML was HTML2.0 launched by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). Before its advent, many details in this version had been implemented. For example, the Mosaic browser in 1994 had implemented the method of embedding images in documents, and later HTML2.0 absorbed the img tag.
Later, W3C replaced the role of IETF and became the standard organization of HTML. In the second half of the 1990s, the version of HTML was frequently modified until HTML4.01 in 1999. At this point, HTML reached its first turning point.
XHTML1: XML-style HTML
The first revised version of HTML after HTML4.01 was XHTML1.0, where X stands for "eXtensible", extension. Of course, some people interpret it as "eXtreme", extreme. XHTML1.0 is based on HTML4.01 and does not introduce any new tags or attributes. The only difference is the syntax. HTML is more casual about syntax, while XHTML requires XML-like strict syntax.
Using strict syntax specifications is not a bad thing, requiring developers to use a single coding style. For example, HTML 4.01 allows you to use uppercase or lowercase letters to identify markup elements and attributes, while XHTML only allows lowercase letters. The launch of XHTML1.0 coincided with the rise of CSS. Web developers and designers began to realize Web standard issues. XHTML-based strict syntax specifications were regarded as the best practice for writing HTML code.
As a result, W3C launched XHTML1.1.
If XHTML1.0 is XML-style HTML, XHTML1.1 is genuine XML. This means that XHTML1.1 cannot be output directly using text/htmlmime-type. However, if web developers use XMLmime-type, the mainstream browsers at the time, IE, do not support it at all. It seemed that the W3C was losing touch with the Web at the time.
Thankless XHTML2
For W3C, HTML4 is already a success. Their next step is XHTML2, hoping to bring the Web to the bright future of XML. Although XHTML2 sounds similar to XHTML1, they have many differences. XHTML2 is not forward compatible, or even compatible with previous HTML. It is a completely new language, and one can come and go without worries. What a disaster.
WHATWG: Breaking with the W3C
The W3C's closed-door approach has aroused dissatisfaction among some people, and representatives from Opera, Apple, and Mozilla began to express their opposition. In 2004, Opera's Ian Hickson proposed extending HTML to adapt to new Web applications, but the proposal was rejected by the W3C. Therefore, they spontaneously organized and established the Hypertext Application Technology Working Group, which is WHATWG.
From WebApps1.0 to HTML5
From the beginning, WHATWG and W3C took a different route. W3C discussed issues through collective voting, while WHATWG was determined by chief author Ian Hickson. On the surface, W3C is more democratic. However, in fact, various internal disputes will limit some resolutions to the quagmire. In WHATWG, things will progress more easily. However, the power of the main author is not unlimited, and their committee can punish those who are too paranoid. The main author of the impeachment.
At the beginning, the main work of WHATWG included two parts, WebForms 2.0 and WebApps 1.0, which were both extensions of HTML. Later, they were merged together to become the current HTML5 specification.
Make peace
While the WHATWG worked on HTML5, the W3C continued their work on XHTML2.0, however, they slowly fell into trouble.
In October 2006, Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the Web, published a blog post stating that the path from HTML to XML would not work. A few months later, the W3C formed a new HTML working group, and they very wisely The results of the WHATWG were chosen as the basis. This change has caused some confusion. W3C is working on two sets of specifications at the same time, XHTML2 and HTML5 (note that W3C's HTML5 has a space before 5, while WHATWG's HTML5 has no space), and WHATWG is also working on the same .
XHTML is dead: XHTML syntax lives on
This mess began to become clear in 2009, when the W3C announced the end of work on XHTML2, which was a belated obituary for XHTML2. This news was treated as a treasure by those opponents of XML, who used it to ridicule those who use the XHTML1 specification. However, they seem to have forgotten that XHTML1 and XHTML2 are completely different things. At the same time, the makers of the XHTML1 specification were worried that the strict syntax specifications in XHTML1 would be abandoned by HTML5. This worry later proved to be unnecessary. HTML5 supports both loose syntax and strict syntax like XHTML1.
HTML5 Roadmap
The current state of HTML5 is that it is no longer as confusing as it once was, but it is still not clear enough. There are two organizations formulating its specifications at the same time. These two organizations have completely different styles of doing things. WHATWG is buying first before tasting, and W3C is trying first before buying. They form an unreliable marriage, and eventually people will have to Will face a question of HTML5 or HTML5.
What makes developers even more confused is when they can try HTML5.
In an interview, Ian Hickson mentioned 2022, saying that HTML5 would not form a "recommended standard" until then. As soon as this statement came out, it immediately aroused the anger of web designers. Although they did not know what the recommended standard meant, they understood , 2022 is already the year of the monkey and the month of the horse.
That’s not all. More importantly, this recommended standard involves two sets of specifications. Considering the scale of the HTML5 standard, this date is still too optimistic. After all, the major browsers’ compatibility with existing standards has not been satisfactory in the past. I think At first, it took IE 10 years to accept the abbr label.
In 2012, HTML5 will be accepted as a candidate standard, which will be the day when HTML5 really starts to gain momentum. For Web developers and designers, this is not important. What is important is browser support, just like CSS2.1. When browsers start to support this specification, developers will use it. If necessary We will wait until all browsers support it before we start buying it. I’m afraid we are still waiting.
The same is true for HTML5. There will not be a point in time when it is announced that HTML5 is ready. On the contrary, we will start to use some of its functions first. HTML5 is not a brand-new thing starting from scratch. It is an improvement of the old HTML standard. In fact, no matter which version of HTML you are using, you are already using HTML5.
International source of this article: A List Apart A Brief History of Markup (Original author: Jeremy Keith )
Chinese compilation source: Ruishang Enterprise CMS website content management system official website