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HTML Versions


HTML Version Timeline

Version Year Key Features
HTML 2.0 1995 First standardized version (RFC 1866). Introduced forms and basic elements.
HTML 3.2 1997 W3C’s first recommendation. Added tables, applets, and text flow.
HTML 4.01 1999 CSS integration, accessibility improvements, strict/transitional/frameset DTDs.
XHTML 1.0 2000 XML-based strict syntax.
HTML5 2014 Semantic elements, native multimedia, APIs.
HTML5.1 2016 Offline storage, input validation enhancements.
HTML5.2 2017 Dialog element, ARIA improvements.
HTML Living Standard 2023 Continuously updated by WHATWG.

Key Differences: HTML 4.01 vs. HTML5

HTML 4.01 Example

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
<html>
<head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
    <title>HTML 4.01 Example</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h2>HTML 4.01 Page</h2>
    <p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...</p>
    <p><a href="../html/html-tutorials.php">Learn HTML</a></p>
</body>
</html>


Modern HTML5 Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>HTML5 Example</title>
</head>
<body>
    <header>
        <h1>HTML5 Semantic Page</h1>
    </header>
    <main>
        <article>
            <p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...</p>
        </article>
        <nav>
            <a href="../html/html-tutorials.php">Learn HTML</a>
        </nav>
    </main>
</body>
</html>


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