HTML

File Format
Name	HTML
Ontology	Electronic File Formats Markup HTML
Extension(s)	.html, .htm
MIME Type(s)	text/html
Released	1990

HTML (hypertext markup language) originally was a SGML based markup language. XHTML is HTML redeveloped using the stricter XML rules. Disagreement over the direction of W3C developments from some of the browser vendors lead to the formation of the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG). They maintain the spec for the HTML5 or HTML Next or HTML Living Standard, which is not based on SGML any more. The W3C standardisation group will work to formalise the WHATWG specification as a series of standardised 'snapshots' of the living standard.

Identifiers

• File extension: .HTML, .HTM
• MIME type (Internet media type): text/html

Specs

• W3C specifications:
  • HTML (1) specification
  • HTML 2.0 specification (see also the RFC)
  • HTML 3.2 specification
  • HTML 4.01 specification
  • HTML5 working draft
  • XHTML 1.0 specification
  • XHTML 1.1 specification
• Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) specifications:
  • The WHATWG Wiki
  • HTML Living Standard
  • Blog post describing the background information of the living standard
  • List of all WHATWG specifications
  • List of 'HTML derivatives' and other spin-off specifications
  • HTML Snapshots

Software

• mPDF: convert HTML to PDF

Validators

• W3C HTML validator

Test suites

• HTML test suite

Format conversion

• Discussion on converting HTML tables to CSV

Historical information

• W3C Web History Community Group
• Tim Berners-Lee discusses Web protocols/formats in Jan 1992
• Dive into HTML5 - How did we get here? also documents how HTML has developed.
• The Lost Tags of HTML, documenting early HTML versions and the tags that have been dropped from the standards.

Other resources

• Markdown CSS: makes HTML look like plain text
• EFF Makes Formal Objection to DRM in HTML5