HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
Whether you're an HTML5, W3C standards-loving, Open Web expert or just coming
fresh off HTML 1, this chapter will equip you with the latest code, trends, and market
research to guide you through making the right decision for your next web project. So
what are you waiting for? Level up!
Mobile First
First, let's get our priorities straight. Prioritizing mobile design and development over
the desktop was once laughable. In just a few years, the idea of “mobile first” has taken
over, giving web developers a breath of fresh air in terms of HTML5-based APIs toward
hardware access on mobile devices.
Apart from the obvious, here are multiple reasons for thinking mobile first:
• Developing sites for constrained devices and resolutions will force you to create
more fluid and flexible content.
• Device features, such as accelerometer and geolocation hardware, present new
business opportunities with technologies like Augmented Reality.
• Overall, mobile first requires you to think in a code-quality mindset. Today, it's
required for developers to worry about things like battery life when doing hardware-
accelerated animations with CSS. This quality of development not only brings better
performing apps, but it also encourages you to focus on cleaner semantics.
• As you wean yourself off of desktop-focused web development, mobile browsers
give you a glimpse into the future. This allows you to stay on the bleeding edge and
in touch with new specifications and features.
Unfortunately the Mobile Web isn't write-once-run-anywhere yet. As specifications be‐
come final and features are implemented, interoperability will be achieved. In today's
world of mobile browsers, however, we don't have a largely consistent implementation
across all browsers. Even though new tablets and phones are constantly being released
to achieve a consistent level of HTML5 implementation, we all know that we're stuck
supporting the older, fragmented devices for a set amount of time. So, needless to say,
such devices as the iPhone 3G and any device that hasn't upgraded past Android 4 will
be the IE6s of this mobile era.
Deciding What to Support
As the mobile landscape exists today, we have multiple platforms and browsers to sup‐
port. When you use HTML5's core APIs, you're bound to the features that are supported
by your target device. So it's critical to understand where the mobile browser scene is
today—and where it's headed.
