HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
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ECMAScript - Client-side scripts are interpreted and executed by the browser. To improve
cross-browser compatibility, the ECMAScript standard defines the syntax and features of
the scripting language. JavaScript is a dialect of the ECMAScript standard.
Not
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Historically, JavaScript and JScript were two implementations of the same scripting language. Microsoft
named their implementation JScript to avoid trademark issues with Sun but they are essentially the same and follow
the evolving ECMAScript standards. With iE 10, Microsoft is moving away from this distinction and referring to their
scripting language as JavaScript. And just to keep things interesting, Microsoft still provides a JScript language, which
provides access to .nET and is very different from JavaScript. i will refer to JavaScript throughout this topic as the
standard ECMAScript compliant scripting language.
Exploring HTML5
So where does HTML5 fit in to this equation? Just about everywhere! What is generally classified as HTML5 is
actually a broad set of specifications related to web browser standardization, many of which having nothing to do
with HTML. I will briefly summarize these here and then demonstrate these features in detail throughout the rest
of this topic. here are a few things that you should keep in mind:
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Many of the specifications have not been finalized yet. Much of the core specifications are
completed but some of the advanced features are still subject to change.
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Browser-support for these features will vary. Browser vendors are aggressively
incorporating new features in each subsequent release.
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The specifications leave room for each browser vendor to decide how each feature is
implemented. For example, all compliant browsers will provide a date picker control for
entering dates, but each browser may implement this in a different way.
The general trend with HTML5 is to provide more native support in the browser. As you will see throughout
this topic, browsers are providing an increasingly impressive set of features. his will enable you to build better
web applications with less work.
Reviewing Markup Changes
As you would expect, HTML5 includes some important improvements in the markup elements. There is a
sizeable list of new markup elements and I will demonstrate many of these in Chapters
2
,
3
, and
4
.
The generic
<div>
element is still supported but new, more context-specific elements are also provided.
I will explain and demonstrate this in Chapter
4
. he new content tags are:
<article>
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<aside>
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<footer>
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<header>
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<hgroup>
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<nav>
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<section>
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