HTML5 standard bodies part ways
Paris, France – August 9, 2012 — If you thought there was a unique standards body for HTML5and that it was the W3C, then you haven’t been paying attention. In fact there are two, the W3C and the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG). WHATWG was formed in response to a somewhat slow moving W3C in 2004 by Apple, Google, Mozilla, Opera and other browser vendors, excepting Microsoft. Both entities teamed up in 2007 to sync their specifications for the good of all mankind.
Due to contrasting working styles, it seems that mankind has taken a back seat and that WHATWG has decided to part ways from the W3C standards process creating the HTML Living Standard. The W3C standards process is simply too slow to output new features in response to market demand. WHATWG’s focus is unsurprisingly the browser experience and it is good news that their work will come to market sooner.
In short, this standard is still HTML5, but it will progress more rapidly now that it is released from the shackles of the W3C. In reality, this is a fork rather than a branch, since the W3C is also at liberty to continue to append the HTML5 standard independently. We will keep a beady eye on any significant modifications the W3C make. To date, the differences between the two standards is negligible.
It is Four Js priority and commitment to follow market demands from an application perspective, which in the light of this event looks like being led by the WHATWG’s HTML Living Standard.
