Perceived Velocity through Version Numbers

Avatar of Chris Coyier
Chris Coyier on

HTML5 and CSS3 were big. So big that they were buzzwords that actually meant something and were a massive success story in pushing web technology forward. JavaScript names their big releases now too: ES6, ES7, ES8… and it seems like it will keep going that way.

But HTML and CSS are done with that game. Shortly after the whole HTML5/CSS3 thing, the message was that there will be no HTML6/CSS4. There are reasons for that, like perhaps it’s healthier for CSS modules to evolve independently of some global versioning number.

That said… as Dave says:

… the lull in excitement since those days is palpable….

People aren’t equally excited about the big three languages of the web.

I’m on a bit of a quest to understand why these three technologies built to work together are so unequally yoked in popularity and their communities polarized from one another. One end of the spectrum experiences a boom while the other experiences a bust. The rising tide does not lift all boats.

Surely a major version number release for HTML and CSS could spark a ton of fresh enthusiasm.

I’ll help. HTML6 could have HTML imports for web components, <include>, and a multi-select. CSS4 gets container queries, subgrid, standardized form control styling, and transitions to auto dimensions.

Direct Link →