HTML5: A Future Standard

You for sure have heard the hype: The markup language HTML5 is the future standard of the modern internet. HTML5 is a so called W3C Candidate Recommendation since December 2012, which means the standard is at a point where it does what it is supposed to and from where on significant features are mostly guaranteed. HTML5 really is becoming a new standard. But what does that mean?

The main goal of HTML5 is to be easily readable by humans and consistently understandable by computers and devices. Modern browsers all support HTML5 and developers want to use it, because of the various new features. These allow the developers to create more dynamic end results than they were able to create before. But even better: HTML5 is able to reduce the development time, so it’s possible to concentrate on writing functionalities that work and look great.

So what exactly is possible with HTML5? Well, for example there are local storage and caching; fast load times; plug-in-free video players and the possibility of carrying over the language to smartphone browsers. This is great news, because nobody has to develop different kinds of apps for different platforms anymore. But developers should be careful and think about whether the users are likely to be using browsers that are up-to-date or not.

According to surveys, in 2012 about 75% of North American internet users used browsers that are mostly HTML5 compatible, which is a growth of nearly 32% from the same time in 2011. Furthermore 63% of developers have been already actively developing with HTML5 in 2012. So as a résumé, what is HTML5 all about? Well, it’s becoming a new standard, it’s cheaper, it’s faster, it offers new features which were impossible before and last but not least it supports mobile devices.

But there’s still one question unanswered: What about the discussion regarding the Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) and HTML5? Stay tuned for more information about this topic!