That's not an accident, IMO.

W3 docs started out, and I would argue, continues to be most relevant to people whose work it is to implement a browser.

Certainly, you can use them to learn how to use the various HTML, CSS, and JS standards, but this is where MDN - and even the Chromium and Webkit resources - are leaps ahead with practical examples you can use in your own code.

I think people are talking about w3schools, where you're talking about the specs that the W3 (in some cases) maintain.

Really, I wasn't sure when I wrote that. Refsnes Data, who owns/runs the site, isn't affiliated with the W3C in any official capacity that I know of.

I was thinking more of a story I heard on an old episode of Hypercritical where John described first learning HTML and the rest through a combination of (mostly) O'Reilly books and reading the specs themselves.

While I suppose this passed muster in the early/mid 90's, I would repeat my earlier claim that the specs nowadays are more for implementers, and not something really well suited to teach you how to use the various languages and tools.

Potentially losing what is perhaps the most approachable reference for this purpose would be terrible for everyone.

> I would repeat my earlier claim that the specs nowadays are more for implementers

Right... but that's not what anyone here means when they talk about the w3 compared to MDN. They mean w3schools.