t took a while for the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to deliver the HTML 3.2 recommendation in Januar
y. Up to that point, both Netscape and Microsoft were delivering their own additions to HTML, in their Navigator and Internet Explorer Web browsers, and were implementing HTML features such as frames and inline scripts differently. HTML 3.2 took the best of that mess and acknowledged prior art, mostly Netscape Navigator features that have been around for a long time.
But even the HTML 3.2 standard wasn't enough to keep Netscape and Microsoft from innovating in the name of customer satisfaction. While both companies are now careful to follow the W3C publications, they also attempt to validate any homebrew HTML features by submitting them to the W3C for consideration. They then implement the features and attempt to market them as "submitted to the W3C for approval," even though such approval may never be forthcoming. The result is more confusion for Web developers and a lot of wasted energy for everyone involved.
HTML 4.0 may change all that. Not only will it close a lot of the gaps in HTML 3.2 and save
developers a lot of time, but it may also discourage Netscape and Microsoft from spurious HTML innovation, since they'll have their hands full with HTML 4.0's list of new features.
The W3C delivered the first working draft of HTML 4.0 this month. It's part catch-up and part innovation. With another three to five months before finalization, it's hard to say exactly what will be in the HTML 4.0 standard, but it's certain to clear up some of the mysticism surrounding scripting, embedded objects, and style sheets.
A detailed explanation of the <SCRIPT> tag should clear up the long-standing controversy over how inline scripts are handled. A similar definition of the <OBJECT> tag mandates a standard way to incorporate just about any kind of external object (e.g., Netscape plug-ins or ActiveX controls) into your Web page. Finally, enhancements to tables, frames, forms, and style sheets should, in combination with the W3C's Document Object Model standard, put an end to any divisiveness over Netscape
's and Microsoft's differing Dynamic HTML implementations.
We'll probably have to wait until January for all of this to reach fruition, but wouldn't you rather run Navigator 5.0 and Internet Explorer 5.0 anyway?
Jason Levitt can be reached at
jlevitt@cmp.com
. You can read his Internet Zone column on
InformationWeek Online
at
techweb.cmp.com/iw/author/internet.htm
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t took a while for the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to deliver the HTML 3.2 recommendation in Januar
y. Up to that point, both Netscape and Microsoft were delivering their own additions to HTML, in their Navigator and Internet Explorer Web browsers, and were implementing HTML features such as frames and inline scripts differently. HTML 3.2 took the best of that mess and acknowledged prior art, mostly Netscape Navigator features that have been around for a long time.
