HTML Roadmap: Evolution and Future

HTML is the backbone of web development. It's crucial to understand its roadmap for building structured, effective web pages. This lesson explores key milestones and surprising facts about HTML's evolution and future.

HTML was created by Tim Berners-Lee in 1991. It started with 18 tags, focusing on document structure. Surprisingly, the first version didn't support images or tables, features we now consider fundamental.

HTML5, introduced in 2014, brought significant changes including native support for audio and video. It also improved semantics with new elements like <article> and <section>. The average website size ballooned from 500KB in 2010 to 2MB by 2015 due to these enhancements.

While HTML6 is not officially planned, discussions focus on better integration with AI and VR. Future web pages might leverage advanced semantic tags and improved accessibility features, potentially transforming how we interact with digital content.

Did you know that the <canvas> element in HTML5 allows for complex graphics and animations directly in the browser? Or that HTML5's offline capabilities enable web applications to work without an internet connection, enhancing user experience?

HTML was used to build the first online grocery store in 1994, revolutionizing e-commerce long before Amazon's dominance.