Chapter 1. HTML and XHTML Pocket Reference
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the markup language used to turn text documents into web pages and applications. The fundamental purpose of HTML as a markup language is to provide a semantic description (the meaning) of the content and establish a document structure (a hierarchy of elements). It is not concerned with presentation, such as how the document will look in a browser. Presentation is the job of Cascading Style Sheets, which is outside the scope of this book.
This pocket reference provides a concise yet thorough listing of the elements and attributes specified in the HTML 4.01 and XHTML 1.0 Recommendations as well as HTML5, which is in development as a Working Draft as of this writing. The text uses the shorthand “(X)HTML” for concepts that apply to all of these markup standards.
For updates and details on all versions, see the W3C’s HTML home page at www.w3.org/html. HTML5 is a joint effort between the W3C and the WHATWG (Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group). See the latest HTML5 developments at www.whatwg.org/specs.
This book is organized into the following sections:
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