HTML5 – Everyone has heard about it, more and more people are using it, but very few people actually know what it is. Those who have adopted it consider it nothing more than an extension of HTML4+, or worse, HTML4. However, HTML5 has potential that extends beyond being an upgrade to previous versions of this language.
While it’s certainly something entirely new, experts are of the opinion that HTML5 fulfills the vision of what this language was meant to be, what it was created for. Once you get the hang of it and understand its scope, the way you approach coding and web applications will change forever with HTML5.
Let’s illustrate this with an example. As you may know, HTML, or Hypertext Markup Link, is a standard programming language that is used to create web pages. Everything you see on a website – the content, font, color, graphic, and hyperlink - is decided by HTML.
Now, in the previous versions of HTML, you needed proprietary APIs and plugins to load certain content on the page. Remember how you couldn’t view flash content on your browser because you hadn’t installed a specific plugin? However, HTML5 does away with the annoying need for plugins, and, thanks to its common interface, the elements load easily and run by themselves.
Some of the new features of HTML5 are:
- Detailed parsing rules
- Enhanced flexibility
- Offline editing
- Messaging enhancements
- MIME and protocol handler registration
- Capability to drag and drop from one HTML5 document to another
With all this, it’s no wonder that HTML5 is becoming increasingly popular among coders, especially when you consider the several benefits associated with it.
1. Built-in Audio-Video Playback
Like we mentioned previously, in order to play audio-video files, webmasters had to depend on third-party plugins, like Quicktime, Silverlight, and Adobe Flash Player. The whole process was ridden with errors and users were required to constantly update the latest version of these plugins.
HTML5, on the other hand, simplified things by offering complete support for audio and video files. Take a look at this code, for example.
<video poster="movie.jpg" controls>
<source src=”movie.ogg" type="video/ogg">
<source src="movie.mp4" type="video/mp4">
Your browser does not support the <code>video</code> element.
</video>
<source src=”movie.ogg" type="video/ogg">
<source src="movie.mp4" type="video/mp4">
Your browser does not support the <code>video</code> element.
</video>
As you can see, there are two files in the code – the .ogg format and .mp4 format - allowing browsers to choose a compatible file. No fuss, no error, no complication – just rich interactive experiences delivered uninterrupted and seamlessly.
2. Cleaner Code
Earlier, HTML coding was extremely messy. Making basic changes to a website was a nightmare as coders would have long pages of code to scroll through. HTML5 comes as a breath of fresh air. The code is clean and a lot easier to read. In addition, it’s also optimized for search engines. The easy readability promotes better understanding of the site’s content, which in turn, boosts your chances of getting higher rankings.
3. Organized Content
HTML5 provides new tags that allow you to organize content in a more relevant fashion. Some of the new syntaxes added include <header>, <footer>, <article>, <nav>, <aside>, <section>, <embed>, and <sidebar>. Apart from making the content more meaningful, it provides contextual information to search engines. This makes it a lot easier to index content and helps search engines display results that are more relevant to the user.
4. Cross Browser Compatibility & Offline Caching
Do you remember how a few years ago you’d have trouble loading a website on one browser while it worked perfectly fine on the other one? HTML5 has managed to reduce these glitches and now, whether you use Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, or Safari, the site works just fine.
Also, HTML5 facilitates offline caching. Regardless of whether you have an active internet connection or not, certain pages of the website will load, as long as the user has visited the page sometime in the past. Even if your net connection goes down, offline caching will still allow you to load the most important elements of a site.
5. Optimizes Content for Mobile
Gone are the days when you had trouble accessing websites on mobiles and smartphones. Sites built on HTML5 can be viewed and used intelligently across a wide range of devices. With the advent of responsive design, tablets, phablets, and smartphones are not problem kids anymore. They’ve been elevated to the status of first-class citizens, ever since HTML5 helped interconnect all kinds of devices.
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