HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
up various additions to the HTML5 draft, such as CSS Regions and CSS Shaders, which aim to provide layout and rich
cinematic features via CSS styling.
Apps for Developers
In addition, Adobe has released some helpful applications to the developer community, apps focused on design
and development for HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript, including Edge, Wallaby, Shadow, and even Flash Professional.
Edge, a tool very similar to Flash, creates timeline-based animations. The main difference between them is that
Edge exports for direct use inside the latest browsers without use of a plug-in. Wallaby is a tool that will allow Flash
designers and animators to take their .fla file and export it to native HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript animations. Shadow
is a multidevice developing suite; it allows developers full control over how content will look on various displays. Finally,
Flash Professional has support for exporting to the HTML5 canvas object and creating Sprite Sheets.
In addition to the desktop applications, Adobe has also released Touch Apps for tablet and mobile devices. Touch
Apps include Photoshop, Proto, Ideas, and Debut; they allow designers and developers to create on the go and seamlessly
marry what's been created back to their desktop using their Creative Cloud tool. Creative Cloud is essentially a global
sync for all of a developer's creative assets. Adobe has also made huge acquisition deals in PhoneGap and Typekit.
PhoneGap allows web developers the flexibility to package their HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript files for native use
on mobile devices as applications. Typekit, on the other hand, is a huge web font library geared toward allowing
designers using CSS Web Fonts to do so with the utmost of ease. Finally, Adobe's Flex Platform was donated to Apache
as open source software completely driven by the developer community now.
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Note
Mozilla
Mozilla is a company focused on open source development and involvement from the greater web community. Mozilla
is behind the very popular browser Firefox and the not-so-popular e-mail client Thunderbird. Mozilla, a nonprofit
company, is focused on building the Web through openness, security, and a mantra of being built by people who care
more about the Web and less about the business side of things.
Mozilla, much like other companies, has produced features for the HTML5 working draft and developed a
bleeding-edge browser, called Firefox Nightly, for testing the latest features. Like Chrome Canary and Webkit Nightly,
this browser may include features that never actually make it into the final HTML5 spec, but it also includes a package
of wonderful web inspector tools, called Firebug, for the browser. Using Firebug, developers can easily debug HTML,
CSS, and JavaScript on live pages. Lastly, Camino is Mozilla's Mac OSX-focused browser; it aims to deliver an open
browser to Mac users.
Microsoft
Microsoft is pretty much a household name. It has created the Windows operating system, the Xbox 360, and the
web browser Internet Explorer (IE). For many years IE was the de facto standard browser, since it shipped natively
with Windows PCs. However, as browser companies emerged and as Microsoft dropped a bomb of a browser with
IE version 6, many users shifted gears to Firefox or Chrome or even became Apple users and adopted Safari as their
main web browser. As Microsoft heads into adopting the next generation of web standards, they still have a lingering
customer base on Windows XP, which supports only up to browser IE8. Thus, XP users will never have an emerging
browser unless they update to Windows 7 or the latest 8 or install Google's Chrome Frame into their browser.
