Ever Wondered Why Does target="_blank" Have an Underscore?

Ever wondered why you need an underscore in target="_blank" to open a link in a new tab?

Before HTML5, developers used <frameset> to split a window into different sections, each with its own name.

The <frameset> element was used in older versions of HTML to divide a web page into multiple sections, each capable of displaying a different document. This allowed for a layout with separate frames, like a sidebar and a main content area. However, <frameset> is now deprecated in HTML5 because it was replaced by more flexible and accessible layout techniques using CSS and JavaScript.

When you clicked a link, the browser needed to know which section to load the new content into. That's where the target attribute came in. For example, clicking a link in the sidebar could load new content in the content section:

<a href="/dashboard" target="content"></a>

If you had a section named "blank" and used:

<a href="/" target="blank"></a>

the content would load in that section. But if there was no section named "blank," the browser would open a new window (not a tab, as tabs didn't exist back then) and name it "blank." Clicking the same link again wouldn't open another window.

So, why the underscore in target="_blank"?

It's simple. Developers needed a way to tell the browser to open the link in a new tab, not in any named section. The underscore means it's a special value, not a section name.

P.S. Don't use <frameset>. It's outdated in HTML5.