|
|  |
 |
|
By Kim Wimpsett
(11/3/98)
As the Web evolves, Web builders are forced to foresee the future. Since not everyone is clairvoyant, a more reliable way to predict the Web of tomorrow is to look at the emerging standards of today.
But wading through the flood of emerging standards isn't easy. With any number of organizations--including the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA)--Web builders can quickly become overwhelmed with acronyms and choke on an alphabet soup of competing standards.
While every emerging standard seems to be touted as the one that will revolutionize the Web, many proposed standards never catch on. No matter how much enthusiasm a standard generates among Web builders, if the popular browsers don't support it, the adoption process is dead in the water. (In an attempt to convince browser makers that supporting the baseline standards is in everyone's best interest, a group of Web builders formed the Web Standards Project, or WSP.)
Because it's tough enough to keep up with existing standards, CNET Builder.com trained a discerning eye on all the emerging Web specifications, from SMIL to the DOM. This exclusive guide boils down the hype to the essentials: exactly what the emerging standard is, why you should care, and an assessment of its current status. If you want to know more, we've bolstered our explanations with the most informative links around the Web.
Kim Wimpsett is an associate editor for CNET Builder.com.
 |
| Which standards do you think are important? |
 |
|
|
