The case against self-closing tags in HTML
There are a number of problems here, so I apologize if my approach seems scattered.  I&#x27;ll start narrow and go broader.<p>The major substantive issue with this proposal is adeptly pointed about arzke, here: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=36616677">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=36616677</a> Namely, using &lt;br &#x2F;&gt; instead of &lt;br&gt; is a useful annotation to beginners who haven&#x27;t fully internalized the rules about self-closing yet; it also, minimally, reduces cognitive load on more experienced developers, just like any other such annotation (e.g., a C comment when you skip fclose() because you&#x27;re using stdin or stdout). While such annotations have no material affect on the final product, they are indispensable for beginners and externalize bookkeeping, reducing cognitive load even for more seasoned devs.<p>As a result, there are broader implications: proposals like these make the Web a less-friendly place for beginners. I believe the &quot;old Web&quot; had something valuable that&#x27;s been lost. The creation of things like NeoCities (and its generally positive reception on HN: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=33648618">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=33648618</a> ) makes me believe that view is widely shared. Proposals that make learning HTML harder, even if only slightly, run counter to these shared values. (While omitting the annotation on self-closing tags is the tiniest of tiny drops in the bucket, so is the bandwidth saved; so while my objection is vulnerable to a criticism that the danger is de minimis, so is the OP position.)<p>Worst, though, is the strident smugness with which OP dismisses all the criticisms of his position, in his blog comments, in the related Twitter thread, and here on HN. &quot;There&#x27;s a whole section in the article about the risk to beginners&quot; is only slightly more tactful than RTFA, but it nevertheless assumes the other commenter hasn&#x27;t read the link (in violation of HN guidelines), and refuses to engage in a discussion on the merits, instead just asking for another hit on the OP&#x27;s blog post.<p>Speaking of trolling for blog hits, this post, <i>like all but one of jaffathecake&#x27;s past 30 submissions</i>, is pure self-promotion, which is obvious when you actually go to jakearchibald.com and see that the Twitter handle there is jaffathecake, and the gmail address there is jaffathecake. &quot;Please don&#x27;t use HN primarily for promotion. It&#x27;s ok to post your own stuff part of the time, but the primary use of the site should be for curiosity.&quot; <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;newsguidelines.html">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;newsguidelines.html</a><p>I vehemently disagree that HTML needs to be rid of all redundancies on the assumption that anyone reading it already has the rules about which tags are self-closing memorized and internalized. I even more strongly disagree that shameless self-promotion is within the spirit or text of HN&#x27;s rules.