HTML is one of the first things students learn in web development. Therefore, learning about the history and versions of HTML on an accurate timeline is essential.
So if you are also a fan of learning web development and want a deep understanding of it. Then read this important article to understand some basic information about it.
What does HTML mean?
HTML is short for HyperText Markup language and most people assume it is a programming language. However, this is a markup language, not a coding or programming language. Used by most web pages and applications to define the text and body of a layout.
HTML is the most popular markup language developed and written by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. And he also created the World Wide Web in 1989. However, his HTML version was officially released in 1993. Since then, HTML has been constantly updated to add new features.
The origins of HTML
The concept of HTML was coined by Sir Tim Berners-Lee when CERN researchers saw that documents had to be shared multiple times. Then he proposed developing a markup language that would help connect computers around the world. According to this idea, end users can access files on one computer from another computing device by accessing their proposed markup language. A hypertext system refers to a collection or network of documents written in text and linked using hyperlinks. And using it, researchers can navigate to another file simply by clicking on a hyperlink.
And with the same vision, he wrote browser and server software for the hypertext markup language by 1990. However, CERN did not fund this important project by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Still, however, Lee published an early description of HTML tags in 1991 and finally released them in 1993.
A brief history of HTML
When the initial version of HTML came out, there were many updates. However, the most popular version was HTML4.01, which became the standard markup language in 1999. Another important version is XHTML. It was the XML format of HTML. The XML language has been used to create many markup languages. RSS and MathML are a few examples of markup languages written using the XML language. The XHTML language became the standard markup language in 2000 and was updated again in 2002. Previously, most web pages and applications were developed using HTML 4.01 or XHTML 1.0. However, in recent years HTML5 has become the standard markup language for defining various properties of web pages.
HTML version evolution
There are many versions of HTML, so let’s understand those as well.
HTML 1.0
This is the same version of HTML used until 1994. However, since there are only 20 elements available to the user, it has minimal features and functionality. It wasn’t very useful, and at the time there were only a handful of people involved in web development.
HTML 2.0
It was the second version of HTML and became the standard language until HTML 3.2 came out. This language allows users to change the background color, text color, and other formatting. It was a significant improvement over HTML 1.0, which came out in 1995. It was the same when the W3C was established to set standards for websites.
HTML 3
At this point, most users have become familiar with HTML and started using it. So, it was a period of increasing reliance on HTML. And some of them are willing to start increasing the look of their web pages. Therefore, HTML authors have added new features and attributes to this version of HTML.
HTML 3.2
During this period, many HTML tags have emerged to make websites more attractive and functional. The W3C also tried to make HTML more robust than previous versions. And with these additional properties and capabilities, HTML 3.2 has been approved by the W3C. By 1997, HTML 3.2 had become the standard markup language for web-based applications.
HTML 4.01
HTML 4.01 is one of the important versions of HTML in HTML history. Because it was the most widely used markup language at the time. Released in 1999, it has CSS or cascading style sheets that add visual effects to web pages. Along with this, many other advanced features were not present in previous versions. So these add-ons resulted in a problem-free HTML version.
XHTML 1.0
XHTML 1.0 was released as an XML language in the early 21st century. Similar to HTML 4.01, but in XML format. However, it was a completely different markup language than the previous version. This code was used to write correctly. Almost everything was the same except for the accessible view.
HTML 5
HTML 5 is the latest version of HTML with many attributes and features. It works even without an internet connection and can be used for web-based applications. The great thing about HTML 5 is that it is supported by most web browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Opera and others.
Also, CSS is now developed and even modern browsers support HTML5. This makes it easy to beautifully define your website and its elements with minimal issues.
The future of HTML
HTML has covered a long journey from a simple file sharing concept to defining a web element. It is important to learn and use them while building web pages and applications. Currently, HTML5 is the latest version supported by most browsers. And in the future, you may again see an updated version of HTML5 with additional features at the W3C. Therefore, the use of HTML will continue and developers will use HTML heavily to define websites and pages incorrectly.
conclusion
So, in this article, we learned about the history of HTML from the beginning to the present. Now you have learned how many changes HTML has seen and developed. So now you can see how important HTML is for modern web pages and applications. So, if you want to know more about similar concepts, stay in touch with us. Because we continue to share valuable information that helps us build great skills.