WHATWG Explained

The WHATWG is a group of web developers who work together to create standards for the web. It's a bit like a community of experts who get together to decide how the web should work.

The WHATWG was founded in 2004 by Ian Hickson, a well-known web developer. He wanted to create a community where developers could work together to create standards for the web.

The WHATWG is responsible for creating the HTML Living Standard, which is a document that outlines how HTML should work. This document is constantly being updated to reflect new ideas and technologies.

The WHATWG's work is focused on making the web a better place for users. They aim to create standards that are easy to use and understand, and that make the web a more enjoyable and useful place for everyone.

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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.

It all started in 2004, when the WHATWG mailing list was announced on 4 June, just two days after a joint Opera–Mozilla position paper was voted down by the W3C members at the W3C Workshop on Web Applications and Compound Documents.

The Mozilla Foundation, Apple, and Opera Software proposed that the new HTML working group of the W3C adopt the WHATWG's HTML5 as the starting point of its work on 10 April 2007.

This proposal was accepted on 9 May 2007, when the new HTML working group of the W3C resolved to adopt the WHATWG's HTML5.

However, Microsoft's Internet Explorer platform architect declined to join, citing the lack of a patent policy to ensure all specifications can be implemented on a royalty-free basis.

It wasn't until 2017 that the WHATWG established an intellectual property rights agreement, which included a patent policy, and this change spurred a renewed attempt to allow the W3C and the WHATWG to work together on specifications.

By 2019, the W3C and WHATWG had agreed to a memorandum of understanding, where development of HTML and DOM specifications would be done principally in the WHATWG.

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HTML and DOM are two crucial aspects of the web platform, and the WHATWG has played a significant role in shaping these standards.

The WHATWG took over as the sole publisher of the HTML and DOM standards in 2019, after the W3C and WHATWG had been publishing competing standards since 2012. This change was a result of the standards having progressively diverged due to different design decisions.

The WHATWG "Living Standard" had been the de facto web standard for some time, and it's now the foundation for the HTML Living Standard, which has been a living document without version numbers since 2011.

The HTML Living Standard includes both HTML, the core markup language for the web, and a number of related APIs. This standard has been instrumental in creating a unified web platform, allowing developers to build websites that work across different browsers.

The DOM Standard, on the other hand, defines how the Document Object Model on the web is supposed to work. It replaces W3C DOM level 3 and introduces new concepts, such as mutation observers, which have improved the way web applications interact with the DOM.

Here are some key specifications related to HTML and DOM:

These standards have had a significant impact on web development, allowing developers to create websites that work consistently across different browsers and devices.

The W3C and WHATWG have put their differences aside and are now working together to advance the open Web platform. This is a huge step forward for the development of web standards.

In 2012, the two groups decided to split editing duties on their respective HTML5 specifications, but now they're collaborating on a single version of the HTML and DOM specifications. This agreement was signed in 2019 and aims to bring the work back together.

The collaboration between W3C and WHATWG is focused on producing a Living Standard and Recommendation/Review Draft-snapshots. They're working together in the WHATWG repositories to produce these documents.

Here are the key points of the collaboration:

This collaboration is a result of the mutual desire to bring the work back together and avoid having two distinct HTML and DOM specifications claiming to be normative. The W3C and WHATWG agree that this would be harmful for the community.

WHATWG is a community of computer experts and general users working together to improve HTML through various standards and tests.

It was founded in 2004 by individuals from Mozilla, Opera, and Apple, as well as other leading Web browser vendors. They created WHATWG in response to the W3C abandoning HTML in favor of XML.

The primary aim of WHATWG is to advance HTML, which is why it has added new features like Web Storage, Web Sockets, and APIs.

These features help with real-world implementations and are regularly updated based on feedback from web designers, programmers, and users.

The WHATWG standards are often referred to as "Living Standards", meaning they are constantly evolving.

The collaboration between WHATWG and W3C ensures that both parties have a say in the development of these standards.

Without these standards, websites would look different on different browsers, or might not work at all, which is why they're essential for web development.

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Here are some benefits of the WHATWG standards: