HTML Full Form – Hypertext Markup Language

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the common language utilized to create web pages. Web pages’ structure & content are specified by HTML. Web browsers use HTML to display pages on the Internet. Browsers get HTML files from web servers or local storage. They turn these files into web pages we can see and use.

Full Form of HTML

HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. HTML often works with other technologies. CSS helps to design & style web pages. JavaScript helps to add actions and features to web pages. HTML shows the structure of the content clearly. It tells browsers what each part of the page means. In the past, HTML also gave hints about appearance.

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HTML History

In 1980, Tim Berners-Lee worked at CERN. He created a system called ENQUIRE. It helped CERN researchers share documents. In 1989, Berners-Lee wrote a memo. He suggested an Internet-based hypertext system.

In 1990, he developed HTML and wrote software for it. He made both a browser & a server. Berners-Lee worked with Robert Cailliau. Together, they asked CERN for funding. But CERN did not formally accept the project. Berners-Lee listed uses for hypertext. An encyclopedia was his first example.

In 1991, HTML was first described to the public. It was called “HTML Tags.” It listed 18 elements of early HTML. Most of them were influenced by CERN’s SGML system. Eleven of these elements still exist in HTML 4. HTML is a markup language. Browsers use it to show text, images, and media. Browsers have default settings for HTML elements.

Designers can change these using CSS. Many HTML elements came from older systems. One example is SGML, used in the 1980s. SGML itself was based on older formatting tools. HTML adopted SGML’s method of using elements and attributes.

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HTML evolved further with Cascading Style Sheets to separate content and design. Berners-Lee considered HTML part of SGML. In 1993, he and Dan Connolly wrote a draft for HTML. It gave HTML its first formal definition. This draft included a document type definition.

The draft expired in six months. It recognized Mosaic’s image tag as a standard. Mosaic was the first browser to show inline images. Dave Raggett also made a proposal called HTML+. It suggested adding tables and forms. An HTML Working Group was established by the Internet Engineering Task Force in 1994. They developed HTML 2.0 in 1995. It was adopted as HTML’s first official standard.

Later, the IETF’s efforts slowed. Different companies had different ideas. In 1996, W3C took over HTML development. They worked with input from software companies. In 1999, W3C published HTML 4.01. Corrections came out until 2001. In 2000, HTML became an ISO standard (ISO/IEC 15445:2000).

In 2004, work began on HTML5. The group WHATWG led this work. In 2008, W3C joined the effort. HTML5 was completed in 2014. It became the new standard.

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HTML Version Timeline

Different versions of HTML were released over time to add new features, improve structure, and support modern web technologies. A simple timeline showing the main HTML versions and their salient features can be found below.

HTML 2.0

• Published on November 24, 1995 as RFC 1866.
• Later updates added extra features:
  • November 25, 1995: RFC 1867 (file upload forms).
  • May 1996: RFC 1942 (tables support).
  • August 1996: RFC 1980 (image maps).
  • January 1997: RFC 2070 (internationalization).

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HTML 3.2

• Published on January 14, 1997 by W3C.
• First version made only by W3C.
• IETF had closed its HTML work in 1996.
• Code name was “Wilbur.”
• Dropped math formulas.
• Adopted many Netscape tags.
• Blink and Marquee were not included.
• Math formulas were handled later by MathML.

HTML 4.0

• Published on December 18, 1997.
• Code name was “Cougar.”
• Came in three versions:
  1. Strict (no old tags allowed).
  2. Transitional (allowed old tags).
  3. Frameset (focused on frames).
• Tried to replace old styling tags with CSS.
• Followed SGML rules (ISO 8879).

HTML 4.0 (Reissue)

• Reissued on April 24, 1998.
• Only minor edits. Version number did not change.

HTML 4.01

• Published on December 24, 1999.
• Same three versions as HTML 4.0.
• Last fixes released on May 12, 2001.

ISO Standard

• In May 2000, HTML 4.01 became ISO/IEC 15445:2000.
• Known as ISO HTML.
• Handled by ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34.

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HTML 5

• Published on October 28, 2014.
• Known as HTML5.

HTML 5.1

• Published on November 1, 2016.

HTML 5.2

• Published on December 14, 2017.

HTML Draft Versions

• HTML Tags, the first publicly available list of tags, was published in October 1991.
• June 1992: First informal HTML DTD draft.
• November 1992: HTML DTD 1.1.
• June 1993: First IETF HTML Draft published.
• November 1993: HTML+ Draft published by IETF.
• November 1994: HTML 2.0 draft started.
• A draft of HTML 3.0 was proposed in April 1995; it was unsuccessful by September of the same year.

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Transition of HTML publication to WHATWG

W3C made a significant announcement on May 28, 2019. HTML and DOM standards are now published exclusively by WHATWG. Since 2012, W3C and WHATWG have been publishing separate standards. In 2007, both standards were identical. Later, they started to diverge. This happened due to different design choices. The “Living Standard” created by WHATWG became the recognized web standard. For a long time, it was widely followed.

HTML Markup

HTML markup has several key parts. These include tags, attributes, character data types, character references, and entity references.

• Tags usually come in pairs. For example, <h1> and </h1>. Some tags do not have pairs. An example is <img>. The first tag is the start or opening tag. The second tag is the end or closing tag.
• HTML also has a document type declaration. This tells the browser how to display the page.
• The web page is described by the content that appears between <html> and </html>. The screen displays the content between <body> & </body>.
• The <title> tag sets the page title on the browser tab. The <div> tag creates sections on the page. This helps in styling the layout.
• The <meta> tag inside <head> adds webpage information.
• The <!DOCTYPE html> is used for HTML5 pages. Without it, browsers may use quirks mode.

HTML Elements

HTML pages are made of elements. Elements use tags inside angle brackets. Most elements have a start tag and an end tag. Example: <p> and </p>. Content goes between these tags.

Tags can have other tags inside them. This creates parent and child elements.

Attributes give extra information. Example: <img src=”image.jpg”>.

Some elements like <br> and <img> do not have end tags. These are empty elements.

Examples

Head Section:

html

<head>

<title>Title</title>

<link rel=”stylesheet” href=”style.css”>

</head>

Headings:

html

<h1>Heading 1</h1>

<h2>Heading 2</h2>

Paragraphs:

html

<p>Paragraph 1</p>

<p>Paragraph 2</p>

Line Breaks:

html

<p>Line 1 <br> Line 2</p>

Links:

html

<a href=”https://example.com”>Link</a>

Inputs:

html

<input type=”text”>

<input type=”file”>

<input type=”checkbox”>

Comments:

html

<!– This is a comment –>

Markup Types

• Structural: For meaning.
  Example: <h2>Heading</h2>.
• Presentational: For look.
  Example: <b>Bold</b>.
• Hypertext: For links.
  Example: <a href=”url”>Link</a>.

Attributes

Attributes go in start tags. They look like name=”value”.

Common Attributes:

• id: Unique name.
• class: Groups elements.
• style: Adds CSS.
• title: Shows tooltip.
• lang: Shows language.
• dir: Sets text direction.

Example:

html

<abbr id=”id1″ class=”jargon” style=”color:purple;” title=”HTML”>HTML</abbr>

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HTML Data Types

HTML uses different data types. These include script data and stylesheet data. Attribute values also have many types. Examples are IDs, names, URIs, numbers, languages, lengths, colors, & dates. All data types are forms of character data.

HTML Document Type Declaration

HTML pages start with a doctype. Doctype tells the browser how to render the page. It helps decide between standard mode and quirks mode. Originally, the doctype helped SGML tools validate HTML. It pointed to a Document Type Definition. DTD defines grammar for allowed & forbidden content. Browsers do not read DTDs today. Browsers use the doctype only to set rendering mode.

Semantic HTML

Semantic HTML focuses on meaning, not appearance. It helps describe the purpose of the content clearly. HTML always had some semantic tags. But it also had presentational tags like <font>, <i>, and <center>. Tags like <div> & <span> have no specific meaning. CSS has gained popularity since the late 1990s. Developers were told to separate content and design. Presentational tags are now avoided.

Tim Berners-Lee spoke about the Semantic Web in 2001. He said future software agents might collect and connect facts from the web automatically. This idea led to mashups, price comparison sites, and Web 2.0 apps. Today’s mashups are built by developers.

They know the APIs and websites they use. These tools are not fully automatic. Web crawlers are used by search engines to read web pages. These crawlers rely on a clear semantic structure. Good semantics help them understand and index content. Semantic HTML makes content clearer to search engines.

It also helps developers build better apps. Old presentational tags are now deprecated. They caused poor accessibility and bloated code. Semantic HTML improves accessibility. Screen readers can follow the structure better. This saves time for visually impaired users. Proper markup reduces confusion and improves the web for everyone.

HTML Application

An HTML Application is called HTA. It uses the .hta file extension. HTAs work on Microsoft Windows. They use HTML and Dynamic HTML. The browser provides the interface. Normal HTML files follow browser security rules. They can only talk to web servers. They can only change web pages and cookies.

HTAs are fully trusted apps. They have more control on the system. They can create, edit, or delete files. They can change Windows Registry entries. HTAs do not follow browser security. They cannot run over HTTP. They must be downloaded first. They run from the local file system.

HTML Full Form