HTML 4.01 is a previous and now outdated version of HTML – a back-to-basics revision of what is perhaps the most popular markup language. Versions prior to 4.01 had became quite cluttered with presentation elements and attributes not related to structure and form, which was the main purpose of HTML. At the time of its publication, it was believed to be the final version of it, and that it was a considerable improvement over previous standards.
Technipages Explains Html 4.01
4.01 was published in three different versions – strict, frameset and traditional. The strict version specifically deprecates all elements that have attributes with unneccessary presentation elements – in other words, design elements not related to structure. These need to be moved to a CSS style sheet to remain active. The transitional version still allows presentation elements and attributes even if it would be better form to move them to CSS code instead, and the frameset version is one that formalizes the frames tags that are found in CSS style sheets to handle presentation aspects.
These tags have been in use for a very long time – since Netscape introduced them. The newer version of HTML – HTML 5 – still supports the use of what is called in-line styling elements, but it is considered far better practice to instead move that code to a separate CSS sheet wherever possible. HTML itself is supposed to be used for structure and formatting wherever possible, rather than presentation and styling. Styling would include font sizes and colours, while presentation would include things like the actual typed text and the box it is presented in.
Common Uses of Html 4.01
- HTML 4.01 is an older version of HTML 5 – a predecessor.
- The usage of HTML 4.01 brought with it a fair lot of changes from cluttered previous versions.
- The three versions of HTML 4.01 each held different rules on how strict the separation of structure and presentation is.
Common Misuses of Html 4.01
- HTML 4.01 is the definitive and latest version of HTML.