HTML, CSS, and Web Development Practices: Past, Present, and Future
Published on Oct 15, 2009 (updated Feb 5, 2024), filed under development (feed). (Share this on Mastodon or Bluesky?)
This and many other posts are also available as a pretty, well-behaved ebook: On Web Development.
The following is the more detailed alternative version of today’s talk at Teaching the Web, Potsdam. While blog posts occasionally get updated, this one might not.
Contents
- The Ideal World
- The Past (1990-1999)
- The Present (2000-2009)
- The Future (2010-2019)
- Priorities for Web Developers
- Development Practices Compared
The Ideal World
The Past (1990-1999)
Standards
- 1990: HTML 1.0 (Tim Berners-Lee)
- 1994: CHSS (HĂĄkon Wium Lie)
- 1995: SSP (Bert Bos)
- 1995: HTML 2.0 (Tim Berners-Lee, Dan Connolly)
- 1995: HTML 3.0 (Dave Raggett)
- 1996: CSS 1 (Bert Bos, HĂĄkon Wium Lie)
- 1997: HTML 3.2 (Dave Raggett)
- 1997: ECMA-262, edition 1 (Guy L. Steele, Jr.)
- 1998: CSS 2 (Bert Bos, Ian Jacobs, Chris Lilley, HĂĄkon Wium Lie)
- 1998: ECMA-262, edition 2 (Mike Cowlishaw)
- 1999: WCAG 1.0 (Wendy Chisholm, Ian Jacobs, Gregg Vanderheiden)
- 1999: ECMA-262, edition 3 (Mike Cowlishaw)
- 1999: HTML 4.01 (Ian Jacobs, Arnaud Le Hors, Dave Raggett)
Development Practices
Problems
- Technology limitations
- Lack of features that soon got crucial
- Support limitations
- Implementations incomplete, inconsistent, or not interoperable (proprietary)
- Low output quality
- Inaccessible code
- Unmaintainable code
- Invalid code
- Bad experience
- Little awareness of and few conventions for usability
- Slow performance due to bloated sites and slow connections
The Present (2000-2009)
Standards
- 2000: XHTML 1.0 (Jonny Axelsson, Tantek Çelik, Steven Pemberton, et al.)
- 2001: XHTML 1.1 (Murray Altheim, Shane McCarron)
- 2006: XHTML 2.0 (Jonny Axelsson, Masayasu Ishikawa, Steven Pemberton, et al.)
- 2008: WCAG 2.0 (Ben Caldwell, Michael Cooper, Loretta Guarino Reid, et al.)
Development Practices
Problems
- Technology limitations
- Lack of features related to web applications
- Support limitations
- Implementations primarily incomplete (see e.g. XHTML, CSS 2)
- Low output quality
- Not fully accessible code
- Unmaintainable code
- Invalid code
- Suboptimal experience
- Not enough awareness of and commitment on usability
- Slow performance due to bloated sites
The Future (2010-2019)
Standards
- 2010? CSS 2.1 (Bert Bos, Tantek Çelik, Ian Hickson, Håkon Wium Lie)
- 2010? ARIA 1.0 (Michael Cooper, James Craig, Lisa Seeman, et al.)
- 2010? ECMA-262, edition 5 (Allen Wirfs-Brock)
- 201…? CSS 3, in its entirety (Daniel Glazman, Ian Hickson, Håkon Wium Lie, et al.)
- 201…? HTML 5 (Ian Hickson)
Development Practices
Problems
- Technology limitations
- Support limitations
- Implementations primarily incomplete (HTML 5, CSS 3)
- Low output quality
- Not quite accessible code
- Not quite maintainable code
- Invalid code
- Suboptimal experience
- Not enough awareness of and commitment on usability
- Slow performance due to bloated applications
Priorities for Web Developers
- Commitment to standards (and standardization)
- Emphasis on “non-volatile” best practices
- Appropriate use of technology (semantics, validation)
- Accessibility
- Performance
- Maintainability (separation of concerns)
- Focus on education
Development Practices Compared
Many thanks to Asim Janjua for his work on the talk’s visuals.
About Me
I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m a web developer, manager, and author. I’ve worked as a technical lead and engineering manager for small and large enterprises, I’m an occasional contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.
I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also in other areas like philosophy. Here on meiert.com I share some of my experiences and views. (I value you being critical, interpreting charitably, and giving feedback.)