HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
What Is HTML5?
Recently the definition of HTML5 has undergone at ransition.When we wrote the first edition
of this topic in 2010, the W3C HTML5 specification was a distinct unit that covered a finite
set of functionality. This included things like new HTML mark-up,
<video>
,
<audio>
, and
<canvas>
tags. However, in the past year, that definition has changed.
So, what
is
HTML5 now? The W3C HTML5 FAQ says this about HTML5:
HTML5 is an open platform developed under royalty free licensing terms. People use the term
HTML5 in two ways:
▪
torefertoasetoftechnologiesthattogetherformthefutureOpenWebPlatform.Thesetech-
nologiesinclude
HTML5specification
,
CSS3
,
SVG
,
MathML
,
Geolocation
,
XmlHttpRequest
,
Context 2D
,
Web Fonts (WOFF)
and others. The boundary of this set of technologies is in-
formal and changes over time.
▪
torefertothe
HTML5specification
,whichis,ofcourse,alsopartoftheOpenWebPlatform.
What we have learned through conversations and project work in the past few months is that,
to the common person who does not follow this closely (or more likely, the common custom-
er who needs something done right away),
it's all HTML5
, and therefore when someone says
“HTML5,” they are actually referring to the “Open Web Platform.”
The one thing we are certain about regarding this “Open Web Platform” is that the one tech-
nology that was definitely left off the invite list was Adobe Flash.
So what is HTML5? In a nutshell, it is “not Flash” (and other like technologies), and HTML5
Canvas is the technology that has the best capability of replacing Flash functionality on the
web and mobile web. This topic will teach you how to get started.
