Who Maintains What
Every technology in this course — HTTP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, URLs — is defined by a specification maintained by a standards body. The web is not owned by any single company. It runs on open standards that anyone can implement.
| Domain | Standard | Maintained By | How It Works |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transport protocols | HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, TLS, TCP, DNS | IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) | RFCs (Request for Comments) — open, consensus-driven |
| Markup | HTML Living Standard | WHATWG (Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group) | Continuously updated; browser vendors (Apple, Google, Mozilla, Microsoft) drive it |
| Styling | CSS | W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) | Modular specs (Grid, Flexbox, etc.) at different maturity levels |
| Scripting | ECMAScript (JavaScript) | Ecma International / TC39 | Annual releases (ES2015, ES2016, ... ES2025); proposals go through stages 0–4 |
| Accessibility | WCAG | W3C WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) | Guidelines (WCAG 2.2) that governments reference in accessibility law |
| Encoding | Unicode / UTF-8 | Unicode Consortium | Character set standard — why <meta charset="UTF-8"> matters |
The IETF defines the plumbing. The WHATWG defines the markup. The W3C defines styling and accessibility. TC39 defines the language. Together they define the platform.
Why Open Standards Matter
- Interoperability — Any browser renders HTML. Any server speaks HTTP. No permission needed.
- No vendor lock-in — You're building on shared protocols, not a proprietary platform. If one vendor disappears, the standards persist.
- Longevity — HTTP from 1991 still works. HTML from 1993 still renders. React from 2015 has already undergone breaking changes. Standards move slowly because they have to — millions of sites depend on them.
- Permissionless innovation — Anyone can build a web server, a browser, or a framework because the standards are public. The web grew fast because no one needed to license it.
The Living Standard Model
HTML used to be versioned: HTML 2.0 (1995), HTML 4.01 (1999), XHTML 1.0 (2000), HTML5 (2014). HTML5 was the last version number. The WHATWG now maintains a "Living Standard" that evolves continuously.
New features are added when at least two browsers implement them. The spec reflects reality rather than dictating it — the opposite of the XHTML approach, which tried to impose XML strictness on a web that didn't want it.
This pragmatism is why XHTML failed: the standard demanded perfection (a single missing closing tag = a broken page), but the web was built on tolerance (browsers guess and recover). The Living Standard embraced that tolerance.
Prefer Protocols Over Platforms
A protocol is a shared agreement. A platform is a product. Protocols persist; platforms pivot.
Git over GitHub. HTTP over any particular framework. SQL over any particular ORM. HTML/CSS/JS over any particular component library. OpenTelemetry over any particular monitoring vendor.
When you invest in learning a protocol or standard, that knowledge compounds over decades. When you invest only in a platform, you're on borrowed time — the platform will change, pivot, get acquired, or shut down. Understanding the foundation makes learning any platform built on it far easier.