Future development trends of HTML5

The hottest topic in the field of web front-end development in recent years is HTML5. HTML5 has fundamentally changed the way developers develop web applications. From desktop browsers to mobile applications, this language and standard are affecting and will continue to affect various operating platforms . What is HTML5?

HTML5 in a narrow sense

The predecessor of the HTML5 draft was called Web Applications 1.0. It was proposed by WHATWG in 2004, accepted by W3C in 2007, and established a new HTML working team. On May 6, 2013, the official draft of HTML 5.1 was announced. This specification defines the fifth major version, and the first time it will revise the core language of the World Wide Web: Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). In this release, new features are constantly being introduced to help web application authors work hard to improve interoperability of new elements.

The hottest topic in the field of web front-end development in recent years is HTML5. HTML5 has fundamentally changed the way developers develop web applications. From desktop browsers to mobile applications, this language and standard are affecting and will continue to affect various operating platforms.

In the mobile field, one of the questions that people have been arguing about is whether to develop web applications or native applications? With the development of HTML5 standards, the differences between the two have gradually become blurred. Today, major media are rushing to report on things related to HTML5. So, what is the future development trend of HTML5? Let me talk about my views and some of the views I have seen that I think I agree with.

The day before yesterday, appMobi was selected as the most promising company in ReadWriterWeb2012. As a startup, the award company first focused on how to achieve the simplicity and ubiquity of HTML 5 on mobile platforms.

From the emerging mobile applications today, we know that in this era of big explosion in smartphones and tablets, mobile priority has become a trend, and no matter what it is developed, mobile is the main focus.

As mentioned above, the problem that has been plaguing the mobile field before is whether to develop web applications or native applications. Now, we have seen some large companies such as the Financial Times, which have also performed well in the process of entering the mobile market for HTM L5, removed iPad native applications from the App Store and developed web applications.

Many game developers will also play an important role in mobile web applications, and the trend of mobile web applications being preferred will continue until mobile devices dominate the field of information processing. In fact, users don’t care what tools you use to develop what applications. Whether it is a web application or a native application, it’s enough as long as it’s easy to use.

In fact, mobile game developers are the ones who benefit the most from HTML5. They can use this platform to escape the 30% commission paid to Apple for paid games. To a certain extent, games are the best-selling application on mobile platforms and an important factor in attracting people to buy mobile devices.

Many game developers are driven by Facebook or Zynga, and the future Facebook application ecosystem is based on HTML5. Although it is very difficult to develop games on the HTML 5 platform, game developers are willing to do that. It is also a way to package and integrate Web application games into native applications through XDK of PhoneGap and appmobi. Facebook does it almost like this - based on web applications and browsers, but packages and integrates them into native applications.

Before HTML 5 really changes the mobile development platform, an important step must be taken, which is responsive design, that is, the screen can be automatically resized based on the content.

A best example of responsive design is BostonGlobe.com (watch videos) launched this year. Its screen can be resized based on anything. After visiting its developer Filament Group, it learned that responsive design is not easy. Some basic concept designs must start from scratch, such as processing RespondJS for media libraries, and handling images and advertisements from third parties is also annoying.

To do responsive design, you must understand the feedback relationship between content and screen. ZURB, a responsive design company from Silicon Valley, said that in the past 16 years, developers have realized that responsive design must completely leave streaming and focus on how content is processed on web pages and mobile devices. This process continues, and HTML 5 will make it possible.

4) Device access

The biggest obstacle to eliminating the boundaries between web applications and native applications is the ability of browsers to access basic features of mobile devices, such as cameras, address books, calendars, accelerators, etc. In terms of using HTML5 to achieve this capability, the appMobi mentioned above is an industry leader, and all APIs were opened after Thanksgiving. Mozilla has also been working hard to enhance device access capabilities through its mobile browser Fennec.

For many mobile developers, improving device access is the most exciting innovation of HTML5, which means that web applications can log on to mobile devices without any PhoneGap-style packaging. Game developers are of course happiest because certain features are blocked for them, such as accelerators that can be integrated into games.

This opens up another possible world, such as better integration with the cloud (which is conducive to in-app purchases, message pushes, etc.) and improves game playability. With the HTML5 platform, developers can no longer rely on Java, CSS3, HTML and other programming languages.

5) Offline cache

This concept is quite trendy. When offline, the app can also operate as usual. It is considered the magical side of HTML 5. The best offline caching example this year is the Amazon Kindle cloud reader. You can synchronize content to all Kindle series devices through Firefox6 or above, Chrome 11 or above, Safari 5 or above and iOS 4 or above browsers, and can remember everything users have in the kindle library.

Amazon has implemented offline use of web applications. Many experts claim that the end of native applications is coming because the use of web applications has become simple, frictionless, suitable for any platform or without platform. Of course, Mozilla's tentacles also reach here. In fact, Mozilla wants to get involved in any field that HTML 5 can penetrate. You can learn more from Mozilla's mobile blueprint.

In August this year, Brian Fling wrote a blog post called HTML5 Web Application Development Analysis, and put forward several suggestions for reference by developers engaged in HTML 5 applications:

Be patient, HTML5 projects may be better than developing any other project, but they will be longer.

It's not as simple as building a website, it may cost you a lot of money

Find the right developers, you must remember that this is very difficult for many experienced experts, and your team will also find it difficult, so you must find the right person and find the right direction.

To support yourself, you have to know that when developing HTML 5 projects, many tools need to be made by yourself, not ready-made

In the technical world, the step-by-step dogmatic style does not work here, and it will cost a lot of unnecessary funds. In the mobile field, there is no right or wrong, only whether it is suitable, and everything focuses on user experience.

In terms of tools, in addition to the tools provided by appMobi, there are also frameworks and IDE supply developers provided by Sencha and Appcelerator. Although these tools are not mature now and are not as simple and powerful as developers' frameworks and tools on Android and iOS, at least they are evolving and will become more and more useful.

Other features of HTML 5, such as forms and new standards, are still evolving rapidly, and as standardization progresses, HTML 5 may become back to HTML. Leading figures in the development field of HTML 5 include Sencha, Adobe, Appcelerator, appMobi, Facebook, Amazon, and Google.

Whether you are a developer who wants to develop new video applications such as Brightcover or a developer who wants to develop new audio applications such as Soundcloud, whether it is desktop or mobile applications, HTML 5 is the main theme of innovation.