HTML 5, a groundbreaking upgrade to the prominent Web presentation specification, could become a game-changer in Web application development, one that might even make obsolete such plug-in-based rich Internet application (RIA) technologies as Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, and Sun JavaFX.
The World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) HTML 5 proposal is geared toward Web applications, something not adequately addressed in previous incarnations of HTML, the W3C acknowledges. In other words, HTML 5 tackles the gap that Flash, Silverlight, and JavaFX are trying to fill.
The rich promise of HTML 5 "HTML 5 is really the second coming of this Web stuff -- of the Web," says Dion Almaer, co-founder of the Ajaxian Web site and co-director of developer tools at Mozilla. The specification boasts capabilities covering video and graphics on the Web, as well as a slew of APIs, Almaer notes.
HTML 5 technologies such as Canvas, for 2-D drawing on a Web page, are being promoted by heavyweights in the Internet space such as Apple, Google, and Mozilla. (Although Microsoft itself has given a thumbs-up to certain aspects of HTML 5, it has not backed Canvas.)
"HTML 5 features like Canvas, local storage, and Web Workers let us do more in the browser than ever before," says Ben Galbraith, also co-founder of the Ajaxian Web site and co-director of developer tools at Mozilla. Local storage enables users to work in a browser when a connection drops and Web Workers makes "next generation" applications incredibly responsive by pushing long-running tasks to the background, he says.
Web applications will become more fun, says Ian Fette, project manager at Google for the Chrome browser: "They're going to be faster and they're just going to provide overall a better user experience and make the distinction between online apps and desktop apps blurred."
HTML 5 features already appearing in browsers After five years of work, a draft of the HTML 5 specification was released in 2008. Parts of it are showing up in browsers, but the complete HTML 5 work won't be done for years.
"For example, video support is new in HTML 5 and new in Firefox 3.5," notes Vlad Vukicevic, technical lead of the Firefox project at Mozilla. Google's new Chrome browser also has some capabilities, including video tags, derived from the HTML 5 specification. And Microsoft has several HTML 5 features in Internet Explorer 8, such as local storage, AJAX navigation, and mutable DOM prototypes.
Opera plans to add capabilities such as Canvas and video to its browser, says Molly Holzschlag, Opera's Web evangelist. Meanwhile, Apple supports HTML 5 audio and video tags in its Safari browser, as well as the Canvas technology (which it invented).
The case for HTML 5: Get rid of proprietary add-ons While Adobe, Microsoft, and Sun Microsystems (soon to be Oracle) duke it out with their own technologies to implement multimedia on the Web, HTML 5 has the potential to eat these vendors' lunches, offering Web experiences based on an industry standard.
Therefore, Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight could see their turf invaded by HTML 5, Almaer says. "Essentially, what it does is lays the groundwork to have equivalent functionality that Flash or Silverlight provides," says RedMonk analyst Michael Cote. It also could threaten JavaFX, he adds.
One of HTML 5's goals is to move the Web away from proprietary technologies such as Flash, Silverlight, and JavaFX, says Ian Hickson, co-editor of the HTML 5 specification. (Hickson is a Google employee, while his co-editor David Hyatt works for Apple.)
"They're single-vendor solutions [and] they don't really fit well into the Web platform," Hickson says. "It's always a problem when you're stuck with a single software provider -- what if they decide to abandon the product you're using? What if they decide to start charging? With an open platform, there's no such risk, since
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Dont' get me wrong I'm all for a standard, and look forward to the power of HTML5. And don't use Flash or Silverlight (much).
But this? "They're single-vendor solutions [and] they don't really fit well into the Web platform," Hickson says. "It's always a problem when you're stuck with a single software provider -- what if they decide to abandon the product you're using? What if they decide to start charging? With an open platform, there's no such risk, since we have true competition, many vendors, and an open standard that anyone can implement."
Essentially HTML IS a single-vendor solution. Implemented by many vendors. So, imo, worse (in that regard) than a single-vendor solution implemented by a single vendor.
If they decide to abandon the product you're using? That happens every time I move from IE to FF (every few minutes) or from HTML 2 to 3 to 4 to 5 (every few years). I understand it's not the standards body doing this, but rather the implementers, or maybe a mix of the two -- it does not matter (to me as a developer) with whom the blame lies. I don't care - just fix it.
Start charging? Ok, got me there...
I really, REALLY, wish the big guns (IE, FF, Safari) would truly follow the protocol. I know, I know...it's a pipe dream. And now with Chrome added to the mix...egads o_O
This is the same tune that is sung every few years, we need a new tune...
blah blah blah, get to work and abandon THE MAJOR CRASHER, so we could live in peace. As for user abandon flash and youtube, so we see how fast they adopt theora and vorbis? Just don't watch youtube videos and uninstall flash. You wan't see any ads and they will not make any money of ads, so they will have to abandon it and use open standards. And they will reinstitute back vorbis and theora as free of patents and royalities sugested standard. We as the users have the POWER. Not them. Simpy do not use their crappy plugins and theire gone.:))))) Oh yeah!
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