Why is an input tag not allowed directly within a form tag?

Question

I just read the following at http://w3fools.com/#html_forms:

Non-block-level elements (such as <input>) are not valid directly inside <form> tags until HTML5.

I had never heard of anything along these lines, and every basic HTML tutorial I've seen seems to be just fine with putting input tags directly inside a form tag. So my question has three parts:

• Is the above statement legitimate?
• Why is this the case? (Was it simply an oversight, or were the creators of the HTML spec trying to prevent specific problems by creating this rule?)
• What is the recommended way to construct a form with inputs? (Are we just supposed to create a div or a table directly inside the form tag?)

Answer 1

It's standards pedantics.

• The statement is legitimate as far as the standard goes: in HTML 4.01, the definition for <form> specifies that it may only contain block elements or <script>. As far as what every browser in the world allows, it's fine.
• I can only guess that they consider <form> to not be a layout tag at all, and they want all inline elements to be contained inside a block element.
• Yes, you're supposed to place a <div>, <table>, <p>, or some other block presentational element inside the <form>.