This was my presentation at HTML5 DevConf this year, focused on the past, present and future of HTML, from someone who's been involved since 1996!

1. erspectives on the Evolution of HTML
Daniel Austin
PayPal, Inc.
HTML5 DevConf
Oct. 23, 2013
V 1.1

2. My Love-Hate Relationship With HTML
• Originally an innocent physicist
• I became involved in the WWW, and it’s been all downhill
ever since
• Member of the HTML WG @ W3C since 1996 (with some
gaps)
• Member of 14 other W3C Working Groups since 1998
– XML Core, XSLT, Web Services Architecture, Web
Performance, and a lot of others

3. HTML’s Evolution
XHTML 2.0 (2006
HTML 5.1 (2016)
What WG Draft (2009)
HTML 5.0 (2014)
2005
Source: Vlad Alexander
2010
2015
HTML 6? (2020)
2020

4. The Browser Wars (1996)
• JavaScript and CSS and
Divs, Oh My!
• Not to mention JSSS
and <layer>
• A time of much
innovation and change
• But nobody won

5. The Role of HTML as a Display Format
(1998)
• From W3C’s Future of HTML
Workshop 1998
• HTML modeled on PostScript
• Argued for better layout
• Targeting specific devices
• Horribly Embarrassing:
– HTML+CSS+JS slideshow didn’t work!
• The paper later proved to be influential

6. The Role of HTML as a Display Format
(2013)
Source: Andy Gryc, QNX

7. The Arrival of XML
• ‘Bringing Rationality’ to the WWW
• Naive Thinking: 6 months (!)
• Never Intended to ‘kill HTML’
XML Core
XSLT
XLink
XSchema

8. XML’s Impact on HTML
Wins
Losses
• XHTML is probably the
most successful spec
ever
• Improved the overall
quality and reliability of
the WWW
• XML remains central to
the Web’s architecture
• Xquery/Xpath/Xlink/XSD/
XSLT not as successful
• Verbosity and parsing not
well-suited for mobile
devices
• JSON rises as an
alternative

9. How the Sausage Was Made
• ‘XMLifying’ HTML was a
huge task…
• …and led to a lot of
heartache
• Compromises had to be
made; no one was
satisfied
• 1999: HTML 4.01
• 2000: XHTML 1.0
• 2001: XHTML 1.1
(Modularization)
…and then a long break

10. Standards Take Forever
11 Years, 3 Months, 22 days!!!

11. The WhatWG and the Why
• After Modularization was completed, HTML had a mid-life
crisis
• Everyone wanted more from HTML, faster
• XHTML 2.0 Wasn’t Working, so we got HTML5
• Eventually, the spirit of reason prevailed, and WhatWG
and W3C continue to live happily ever after

12. Current State of the HTML 5 Spec
Specification
FPWD
LC
CR
PR
Rec
HTML5
N/A
2011 Q2
2012 Q4
2014 Q4
2014 Q4
HTML 5.1
2012 Q4
2014 Q3
2015 Q1
2016 Q4
2016 Q4

13. A Federated Model for HTML
Core HTML5
Canvas
2D
This is
XHTML
1.1
HTML
Markup
Web
Workers
HTML
Media
Web
Sockets
IndexDB
Web
Storage
Source: Sergey Mavrody c. 2013

14. The Co-Evolution of HTML, JS, CSS, and
XML
XML Core
XSLT
XSD
Xpath/XQuery
Document Object Model
Javascript…
JSON…
Source: Sergey Mavrody c. 2013

15. My Own Reasoning on Modularization
Modularization Worked
HTML5 is Fully Modularized

16. The Contraptionary Nature of the Web
“The amazing thing about the Web isn’t how well it
works, but that it works at all”
George Bernard Shaw
“This specification is a kitchen sink full of
technologies for the Web.”
WhatWG HTML5 Web site

17. Tower of Babel: A Problem We Have Yet to
Solve

18. Mobile Technology is Driving HTML’s
Evolution
• HTML5 is designed for mobile
– Most new users are mobile
users
• Many of HTML5’s coolest
innovations came from mobile
considerations
• This may require leaving
hypertext and documents behind

19. The Line Between Applications and
Documents is Blurring
• Convergence at the hardware, software, and standards
levels
– Chromebook, Firefox OS
– Native application performance still considerably better than
browser+HTML
– HTML5’s Web Storage, IndexDB and WebWorker specs are
largely aimed at providing application functionality to HTML

20. The Rise of the API
• This is a straightforward consequence of the separation of
functionality and appearance, no mystery here
• A significant proportion of HTTP traffic is for application traffic
• Often JSON and/or HTML5 fragments
• Paradoxically often still document-based (REST)
• Together with other trends, allows us to move toward a more
application-based development model

21. Predictions for the Future of HTML
The Bar to Entry Will Get Higher
XHTML Isn’t Going Away
Applications Will Rule
Hypertext is Past It’s Sell-By
HTML Will Continue to Metastasize

22. What About WWW Values?
• Are We Making the Bar Too High?
– We want the Web to be for everyone
• Can We Move Beyond Our Origins
(and Still Retain the Spirit of the WWW?)
• Can We Continue to Evolve Naturally?
– The Co-evolution of many interlocking standards is a daunting
task
Are We Making the World a Better Place?

23. About:HTML
“…a single user-interface to many large
classes of stored information such as
reports, notes, data-bases, computer
documentation and on-line systems help”
WorldWideWeb: Proposal for a HyperText
Project
Berners-Lee & Caillau, 1990

24. See you at HTML6 DevConf!
Daniel Austin
PayPal, Inc.
HTML5 DevConf
Oct. 23, 2013
@daniel_b_austin
da@x.com