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>
View this example in a separate browser window
Previous: HTML History
Next: HTML Editors
Test your Programming skills with w3resource's quiz.
- Weekly Trends and Language Statistics
- Weekly Trends and Language Statistics