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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-06-15T01:11:51+00:00

From what I’ve read, the correct way to start an HTML5 page is: <!DOCTYPE

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From what I’ve read, the correct way to start an HTML5 page is:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>

With nothing more in those lines. Is this true? (I’m asking because Visual Studio has more than that.)

(Also, I’m wondering if HTML5 is really the current standard or should I be using XHTML5 or some other version.)

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    According to the HTML living standard and the W3C spec, the doctype is the required preamble but required for legacy reasons. I quote:

    1. A string that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for the string
      "<!DOCTYPE".
    2. One or more space characters.
    3. A string that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for the string
      “html”.
    4. Optionally, a DOCTYPE legacy string or an obsolete permitted DOCTYPE
      string (defined below).
    5. Zero or more space characters.
    6. A U+003E GREATER-THAN SIGN character (>).

    In other words, <!DOCTYPE html>, case-insensitively.

    And <html></html> for a valid document

    (Also, I’m wondering if HTML5 is really the current standard or should
    I be using XHTML5 or some other version.)

    It is not the current standard IMHO because it is not finished yet. But this article explains very well 10 reasons for using it now.

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