Learning Web Design, 5th Edition

D. From HTML+ to HTML5

D

From HTML+ to HTML5

I’m not sure any HTML specification has had such fanfare as HTML5. It offers so many promising possibilities, in fact, that it has become something of a buzzword with connotations far beyond the spec itself. When marketers and journalists use the term “HTML5,” they are sometimes referring to any new web technology that replaces Flash. Throughout this book, you have gotten familiar with the elements of HTML5, and in this appendix, I’ll tell you a bit more about the spec itself, so you can join those of us who are irked when we hear “HTML5” used incorrectly. The important thing, however, is that mainstream awareness of web standards is certainly a win and makes our job easier when we’re communicating with clients.

But first, I think it’s important to know how we got here and what makes HTML5 a breakthrough. I’ll start with a brief history of HTML, and then point out some unique qualities of HTML5, including its APIs.

An Abbreviated History of HTML

Understanding where we’ve been provides useful context for where we are going. Our journey to HTML5 passes through the frontier of the early web, the dangerous battlegrounds of the Browser Wars, and a flirtatious fling with XML.

further reading

For a detailed history of HTML from 1989 to 1998, read David Raggett’s account from his book Raggett on HTML4 (Addison-Wesley), available on the W3C site (www.w3.org/People/Raggett/book4/ch02.html).

The Wild Frontier

The story of HTML, from ...