History of HTML by Celia Chandler
Evolution of HTML: A Historical Perspective
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) has undergone significant evolution since its inception in the early 1990s. Originally designed as a simple markup language for creating static web pages, HTML has evolved into a versatile tool for building dynamic and interactive web applications. In this report, we will delve into the history of advanced HTML, tracing its development from its humble beginnings to the sophisticated technologies used in web development today.
The Dawn of the Internet
The internet began to form all the way back in 1960. During the time it was a government project to allow computers to keep communicating if other routes between them where to fail. In 1969 the ARPANET was created to connect different universities. For those of you who don't know, ARPANET was "the first wide-area packet-switched network with distributed control and one of the first computer networks to implement the TCP/IP protocol suite."1
Birth of HTML
By 1992, the internet had taken a turn for the better; HTML (HyperText Markup Language) was born. This was created by a man named Tim Berners-Lee while working at CERN. At the time HTML was used to "create documents, a protocol HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) to send documents, and the first browser called the World Wide Web."2
Advancements in Browser Technology
The Web became very popular very quickly and caught the attention of a programming team at NCSA (National Center for Supercomputing Applications). Thanks to this team they created a better browser called mosaic, which supported a high degree of multimedia.
Evolution of HTML Versions
In 1993, HTML 1.0 was released featuring basic elements like headings, paragraphs, and lists. There really wasn't much you could do with it besides getting some simple text onto the web. At this time there was no such thing as CSS either.
Just 2 years later HTML 2 is released. The only new difference is the ability to add forms and tables. T. Berners-Lee and D. Connolly, November 19953 This version introduced the general structure for HTML as we know it today. This included elements such as, head, body, title and meta.4 HTML 3.2 was "developed in early `96 together with vendors including IBM, Microsoft, Netscape Communications Corporation, Novell, SoftQuad, Spyglass, and Sun Microsystems." 5 This was released in 1997 with new tags like <fig> (for images), <style>, and a <class> attribute. It's important to know here that because of the 3.2 version, CSS was created6 Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) emerged in 1996, allowing developers to separate content from presentation. Even though this was released in 1996, it was shortly replaced by HTML 4 a year later. Fun fact: You may have noticed that the version is .2 instead of .0. This was because the 3.0 version was considered an internet draft and when proposed, it was too large and full of new proposals.7 In December of 1996, David Raggett began working on a project called 'Cougar' which turned into what we know today as HTML 4. "HTML 4 supports more multimedia options, scripting languages, style sheets, better printing facilities, and documents that are more accessible to users with disabilities. HTML 4 also takes great strides towards the internationalization of documents, with the goal of making the Web truly World Wide."8 . The new elements introduced here where <Q>, <INS>, <DEL>, <ACRONYM>, <LEGEND>, <COLGROUP>, <BUTTON>, and <FIELDSET>. This was published as a W3C Recommendation in December 1999. HTML 4 was widely used in the late 1990s and 2000s and many sites using this version of HTML are still to be found on the Web. It wasn't until 2014 until HTML 5 was realized.
The Era of Dynamic Web Pages
DHTML, introduced in 1997, combined HTML, CSS, DOM(document object model) and JavaScript to create interactive web pages. Uses depended on what browser you used more, either Netscape or Microsoft. DHTML differed from HTML for many reasons. For one it is not a markup language, it's a set of technologies of web development. It is also used for creating and designing the interactive side of websites instead of using to develop webpages. Lastly, it needs to be connected to a database unlike HTML because it interacts with users. 9
Transition to XHTML
XHTML(EXtensible HyperText Markup Language) is a cross between HTML and XML. XHTML (1/26/2000) aimed to bring stricter rules to HTML, enforcing XML syntax and improving interoperability. Though its rules are more stricter, it help make the browsers more compatible and could be used on different devices just fine.10 The W3C's push for web standards led to the development of XHTML 1.0 and 1.1, promoting semantic markup and accessibility. XHTML 1.0 and XHTML 2.0 mark significant milestones in the evolution of web markup languages, particularly in their relationship to HTML and XML standards. XHTML 1.0, introduced as a W3C Recommendation in January 2000, sought to blend the flexibility of HTML with the strictness and extensibility of XML. It maintained backward compatibility with HTML 4.01, enabling a smooth transition for developers while encouraging cleaner, more maintainable code through adherence to XML syntax rules. XHTML 1.0 embraced modularity, allowing for the creation of custom document types through the selection of specific modules, and supported extensibility via XML namespaces, facilitating integration with other XML vocabularies. In contrast, XHTML 2.0, envisioned as a comprehensive overhaul of previous versions, began development in 2002 but ultimately did not attain W3C Recommendation status. It departed from the backward compatibility focus of its predecessor, aiming instead to redefine web markup with a stronger emphasis on semantic richness and support for advanced multimedia and interactive content. XHTML 2.0 prioritized semantic markup, offering a structured approach to describing content elements and their relationships, and introduced native support for audio, video, forms, and scripting. However, despite its ambitious goals, XHTML 2.0 faced challenges and ultimately met discontinuation by the W3C due to limited industry support and adoption. This paved the way for the emergence of HTML5, which embraced backward compatibility with HTML while incorporating incremental improvements to meet the evolving needs of web development.11
