WHATWG explained

Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group
Size:100px
Abbreviation:WHATWG
Founders:-->
Purpose:Developing web standards
Membership:Apple Inc., Google LLC, Microsoft Corporation, Mozilla Corporation[1]
Main Organ:Steering Group
Parent Organisation:, if one -->

The Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) is a community of people interested in evolving HTML and related technologies. The WHATWG was founded by individuals from Apple Inc., the Mozilla Foundation and Opera Software, leading Web browser vendors in 2004.[2] [3]

WHATWG is responsible for maintaining multiple web-related technical standards, including the specifications for the HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and the Document Object Model (DOM).[4] [5] The central organizational membership and control of WHATWG – its "Steering Group" – consists of Apple, Mozilla, Google, and Microsoft. WHATWG community members work with the editor of the specifications to ensure correct implementation.[6]

History

The WHATWG was formed in response to the slow development of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web standards and W3C's decision to abandon HTML in favor of XML-based technologies.[7] The WHATWG mailing list was announced on 4 June 2004,[8] two days after the initiatives of a joint Opera–Mozilla position paper[9] had been voted down by the W3C members at the W3C Workshop on Web Applications and Compound Documents.[10]

On 10 April 2007, the Mozilla Foundation, Apple, and Opera Software proposed[11] that the new HTML working group of the W3C adopt the WHATWG's HTML5 as the starting point of its work and name its future deliverable as "HTML5" (though the WHATWG specification was later renamed HTML Living Standard).

On 9 May 2007, the new HTML working group of the W3C resolved to do that.[12] An Internet Explorer platform architect from Microsoft was invited but did not join, citing the lack of a patent policy to ensure all specifications can be implemented on a royalty-free basis.[13] Since then, the W3C and the WHATWG had been developing HTML independently, at times causing specifications to diverge.[14]

In 2017, the WHATWG established an intellectual property rights agreement that includes a patent policy.[15] This spurred a renewed attempt to allow the W3C and the WHATWG to work together on specifications. In 2019, the W3C and WHATWG agreed to a memorandum of understanding where development of HTML and DOM specifications would be done principally in the WHATWG.

The editor has significant control over the specification, but the community can influence the decisions of the editor.[16] In one case, editor Ian Hickson proposed replacing the tag with a more generic tag, but the community disagreed and the change was reverted.

Web Hypertext Application Technology Task Force

Initially, the name Web Hypertext Application Technology Task Force was also used,[17] [18] [19] [20] along with variant abbreviations including WHAT Working Group,[21] WHAT Task Force and WHATTF.[22] After some time using both the and domain names,[20] the name WHATWG was eventually standardized on. The namespace URI remains in use for the HTML validator's data type library.[23]

Transition of HTML Publication to WHATWG

On 28 May 2019, the W3C announced that WHATWG would be the sole publisher of the HTML and DOM standards.[24] [25] [26] [27] The W3C and WHATWG had been publishing competing standards since 2012. While the W3C standard was identical to the WHATWG in 2007 the standards have since progressively diverged due to different design decisions.[28] The WHATWG "Living Standard" had been the de facto web standard for some time.[29]

Specifications

The WHATWG publishes a number of standards that form a substantial portion of the web platform including:

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Steering Group Agreement – WHATWG . whatwg.org . WHATWG.
  2. Web site: FAQ – What is the WHATWG?. 12 February 2010 . WHATWG. 24 February 2010.
  3. Book: Reid. Jonathan. HTML5 Programmer's Reference. 2015. Apress. 9781430263678. In section "A Brief History of HTML" -- "The Formation of the WHATWG and the Creation of HTML5". 2 December 2015. 1 - Welcome to HTML5.
  4. Web site: Cohen . Nancy . Xplore . Tech . W3C and WHATWG agreement: Single version of HTML, DOM specifications . 2023-05-19 . techxplore.com . en.
  5. Web site: Alliance gives HTML a stronger future after decade-long struggle to control the web's core tech . 2023-05-19 . CNET . en.
  6. Web site: 22 November 2012 . FAQ – How does the WHATWG work? . 1 January 2013 . WHATWG . If necessary, controversies are resolved by the Steering Group with members appointed from the organizations that develop browser engines, as a backstop to ensure the editor's judgment aligns with what they will implement..
  7. Web site: HTML5: A vocabulary and associated APIs for HTML and XHTML. W3C Recommendations. W3C. 21 October 2015. history-0. https://www.w3.org/TR/2014/REC-html5-20141028/introduction.html#history-0. 28 October 2014. "Shortly thereafter, Apple, Mozilla, and Opera jointly announced their intent to continue working on the effort under the umbrella of a new venue called the WHATWG.".
  8. Web site: WHAT open mailing list announcement. Hickson. Ian. 4 June 2004. WHATWG. 24 February 2010.
  9. Joint Opera–Mozilla position paper voted down prior to the founding of the WHATWG: Position Paper for the W3C Workshop on Web Applications and Compound Documents
  10. Web site: W3C Workshop on Web Applications and Compound Documents (Day 2) Jun 2, 2004. 2 June 2004. World Wide Web Consortium. 24 February 2010.
  11. Web site: Proposal to Adopt HTML5. Stachowiak. Maciej. 9 April 2007. World Wide Web Consortium. 24 February 2010.
  12. Web site: results of HTML 5 text, editor, name questions. Connolly. Dan. 9 May 2007. World Wide Web Consortium. 24 February 2010.
  13. Web site: You, me and the W3C (aka Reinventing HTML). Chris. Wilson. Albatross! The personal blog of Chris Wilson, Platform Architect of the Internet Explorer Platform team at Microsoft. 10 January 2007. Microsoft. 30 January 2009.
  14. Web site: Cimpanu . Catalin . Browser vendors win war with W3C over HTML and DOM standards . ZDNet . 28 May 2019.
  15. Web site: Van Kesteren . Anne . Further working mode changes . The WHATWG Blog . WHATWG . 11 December 2017.
  16. Web site: A Brief History of HTML5. Way. Jeffrey. 2016-10-04.
  17. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20180828204157/http://whattf.org/ . Web Hypertext Application Technology Task Force. 2018-08-28 . dead .
  18. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20180904063826/http://www.whattf.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/ . HTML 5 Draft Recommendation — 7 July 2008 . 2008-07-07 . Web Hypertext Application Technology Task Force . 2018-09-04 . dead.
  19. Web site: WHAT open mailing list announcement. Hickson. Ian. 4 June 2004. Web Hypertext Application Technology Task Force. https://web.archive.org/web/20050110163822/http://www.whattf.org/news/start. dead. 2005-01-10.
  20. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20070704214328/http://whattf.org/charter . Web Hypertext Application Technology Task Force Charter . Web Hypertext Application Technology Task Force . WHATTF.org . 2007-07-04 . dead. Compare identical group charter with identical membership list on WHATWG.org, archived .
  21. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20061010184701/http://www.whatwg.org/mailing-list . Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group Mailing List . 2006-10-10 . unfit.
  22. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20070704214432/http://whattf.org/mailing-list . Web Hypertext Application Technology Task Force Mailing List . 2007-07-04 .
  23. Web site: form-datatypes.rnc . The Nu Html Checker (v.Nu).
  24. Web site: W3C and WHATWG to Work Together to Advance the Open Web Platform. Jaffe. Jeff. 28 May 2019. W3C Blog. https://web.archive.org/web/20190529021122/https://www.w3.org/blog/2019/05/w3c-and-whatwg-to-work-together-to-advance-the-open-web-platform/. 29 May 2019. live. 29 May 2019.
  25. Web site: W3C and the WHATWG Signed an Agreement to Collaborate on a Single Version of HTML and DOM. 28 May 2019. W3C. https://web.archive.org/web/20190529012655/https://www.w3.org/html/. 29 May 2019. live. 29 May 2019.
  26. Web site: Memorandum of Understanding Between W3C and WHATWG. 28 May 2019. W3C. https://web.archive.org/web/20190529012854/https://www.w3.org/2019/04/WHATWG-W3C-MOU.html. 29 May 2019. live. 29 May 2019.
  27. News: Cimpanu . Catalin . Browser vendors Win War with W3C over HTML and DOM standards . 29 May 2019 . ZDNet . 29 May 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190529021959/https://www.zdnet.com/article/browser-vendors-win-war-with-w3c-over-html-and-dom-standards/ . 29 May 2019.
  28. Web site: W3C - WHATWG Wiki . WHATWG Wiki . 29 May 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190529013834/https://wiki.whatwg.org/wiki/W3C . 29 May 2019.
  29. Web site: An epitaph for the Web standard, XHTML 2. Stephen . Shankland. CNET. 9 July 2009. CBS INTERACTIVE INC.
  30. Web site: Is this HTML5?. 13 June 2019. WHATWG. 13 June 2019.
  31. Web site: HTML is the new HTML5. Hickson. Ian. 19 January 2011. WHATWG. 21 January 2011.
  32. Web site: Fetch Standard. WHATWG. 3 May 2019. 13 June 2019.
  33. Web site: whatwg-url . 25 July 2019 . 18 August 2018 . . whatwg-url is a full implementation of the WHATWG URL Standard. It can be used standalone, but it also exposes a lot of the internal algorithms that are useful for integrating a URL parser into a project like jsdom. . https://web.archive.org/web/20190725153051/https://www.npmjs.com/package/whatwg-url . 25 July 2019.
  34. Web site: Web IDL Standard . 2023-09-03 . webidl.spec.whatwg.org.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "WHATWG".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.