“HTML 5” or “HTML5”?

Published on Sep 11, 2009 (updated Apr 22, 2024), filed under development, html (feed). (Share this on Mastodon or Bluesky?)

This and many other posts are also available as a pretty, well-behaved ebook: On Web Development.

It’s “HTML5,” not “HTML 5,” declares the most recent post on the WHATWG blog. A seemingly trivial matter, yet compare that to names of other HTML specifications: HTML 2.0, HTML 3.2, HTML 4.01, XHTML 1.0, XHTML 1.1, XHTML 2.0.

Calling HTML 5 “HTML5” is inconsistent and grammatically wrong. I don’t understand the decision. Personally, I’ll continue to reference this version of HTML as… HTML 5.

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m a web developer, manager, and author. I’ve been working as a technical lead and engineering manager for companies you’ve never heard of and companies you use every day, 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.)