Further Explorations - HTML5 Canvas - page 607

ElectroServer, the architectural information about designing apps for a socket server is
well worth your time.
At the same time, ElectroServer can be used with technologies other than Canvas (Flash,
iOS, etc.), so Canvas will be able to communicate with other socket servers via Java-
Script and WebSockets. We chose to base this example on ElectroServer because it
allowed us to create a full application for you to test and work through. Other libraries
and tools are bound to appear very soon that can work with canvas; for example, the
SmartFoxServer Ajax API. Still in beta, this API uses the Google Web Toolkit to connect
to the SmartFox socket server through an Ajax connection in JavaScript. This library
requires the SmartFoxServer BlueBox add-on module. In theory, this means Smart-
FoxServer could be used in conjunction with Canvas right now.
Conclusion
Over the past 11 chapters, you have been immersed in the world of HTML5 Canvas.
We have given you dozens of examples and applications to work from and through
so you can start building your own creations. From simple text displays to high-
performance games, we have showed you many ways to bring some of the magic of
previous RIA (Rich Internet Application) technologies into the plug-in- less browser
experience.
We offered many strategies for integrating Canvas with other HTML5 technologies, as
well as techniques for handling text, displaying graphics, scrolling bitmaps, creating
animation, detecting multiple types of collisions, embedding and manipulating video,
playing music, handling sound effects, creating user interfaces, optimizing code, and
preparing apps for mobile platforms. We even introduced you to the future of 3D and
multiuser applications directly in the web browser.
The true future, though, is up to you. HTML5 and Canvas are dynamic topics that are
still in a rapid state of change and adoption. While this topic is a good starting point,
you will need to keep abreast of new changes to the technology. Visit our website, http:
//www.8bitrocket.com , for news and updates on HTML5 Canvas.
O'Reilly also has several topics that you might find useful, including:
• HTML5: Up and Running by Mark Pilgrim
• Supercharged JavaScript Graphics by Raffaele Cecco
If you are interested in learning how some of the game-development techniques de-
scribed in this topic (as well as many others) can be applied to Flash, check out our
other most recent topic, The Essential Guide to Flash Games (friendsofED).
There is a real paradigm shift occurring right now on the Web. For most of the first
decade of the 21st century, Java, Flash, Silverlight, and other plug-in RIA technologies
dominated application development and design. At the time, there appeared to be no