HTML Versions

Last update on August 19 2022 21:51:13 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

This chapter contains a list of the HTML versions released along with their release years.

November 24, 1995 HTML 2.0 was published as IETF RFC 1866.

January 1997 HTML 3.2 was published as a W3C Recommendation. It was the first version developed and standardized exclusively by the W3C, as the IETF had closed its HTML Working Group in September 1996.

December 1997 HTML 4.0 was published as a W3C Recommendation.

April 1998 HTML 4.0 was reissued with minor edits without incrementing the version number.

December 1999 HTML 4.01 was published as a W3C Recommendation. It offers the same three variations as HTML 4.0, and its last errata were published May 12, 2001.

May 2000 ISO/IEC 15445:2000 ("ISO HTML", based on HTML 4.01 Strict) was published as an ISO/IEC international standard. In the ISO this standard falls in the domain of the ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34 (ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1, Subcommittee 34 - Document description and processing languages).

As of mid-2008, HTML 4.01 and ISO/IEC 15445:2000 are the most recent versions of HTML. Development of the parallel, XML-based language XHTML occupied the W3C's HTML Working Group through the early and mid-2000s.

Following two examples will help you to understand the difference between HTML 4.01 and HTML 5 :

HTML code of a simple 4.01 web page

<!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=iso-8859-1">
<title>An example HTML page</title>
</head>
<body>
<h2>This is an example HTML page</h2>
<p>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc at nisi  velit, aliquet iaculis est. Curabitur porttitor nisi vel lacus euismod  egestas. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. In sagittis magna eu odio  interdum mollis. Phasellus sagittis pulvinar facilisis. Donec vel odio  volutpat tortor volutpat commodo. Donec vehicula vulputate sem, vel  iaculis urna molestie eget. Sed pellentesque adipiscing tortor, at  condimentum elit elementum sed. Mauris dignissim elementum nunc, non  elementum felis condimentum eu. In in turpis quis erat imperdiet  vulputate. Pellentesque mauris turpis, dignissim sed iaculis eu,  euismod eget ipsum. Vivamus mollis adipiscing viverra. Morbi at sem  eget nisl euismod porta. Sed semper, tortor eu molestie iaculis, felis  massa vestibulum massa, vitae suscipit arcu nunc quis ante. Phasellus  aliquam elit at nisl condimentum commodo. Nunc congue nibh aliquam enim  aliquet nec feugiat diam condimentum. Suspendisse potenti. Lorem ipsum  dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam accumsan velit sed  lacus pellentesque in gravida nunc ultrices. Aliquam varius scelerisque  erat ut egestas. 
</p>
<p><a href="../html/html-tutorils.php">Learn HTML from w3resource.com</a>
</body>
</html>

HTML code of a simple 5 web page.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<title>An HTML 5 example page</title> 
</head>
<body>
<headings>
<h2>This is an example HTML page</h2>
<headings>
<article>
<p>
  Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc at nisi velit, aliquet iaculis est. Curabitur porttitor nisi vel lacus euismod egestas. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. In sagittis magna eu odio interdum mollis. Phasellus sagittis pulvinar facilisis. Donec vel odio volutpat tortor volutpat commodo. Donec vehicula vulputate sem, vel iaculis urna molestie eget. Sed pellentesque adipiscing tortor, at condimentum elit elementum sed. Mauris dignissim elementum nunc, non elementum felis condimentum eu. In in turpis quis erat imperdiet vulputate. Pellentesque mauris turpis, dignissim sed iaculis eu, euismod eget ipsum. Vivamus mollis adipiscing viverra. Morbi at sem eget nisl euismod porta. Sed semper, tortor eu molestie iaculis, felis massa vestibulum massa, vitae suscipit arcu nunc quis ante. Phasellus aliquam elit at nisl condimentum commodo. Nunc congue nibh aliquam enim aliquet nec feugiat diam condimentum. Suspendisse potenti. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam accumsan velit sed lacus pellentesque in gravida nunc ultrices. Aliquam varius scelerisque erat ut egestas. 
</p>
<article>
<nav>
<p><a href="../html/html-tutorils.php">Learn HTML from w3resource.com</a>
<nav>
</body>
</html>

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