Thoughts on HTML5 Application Status and Prospects

Abstract: This article discusses the HTML5 Application Status Quo and prospects in detail, which is worth reading by web developers.

This article discusses the HTML5 Application Status Quo and prospects in detail, which is worth reading by web developers.

Currently, HTML5 is like Ajax, which was emerging in the past. Some people are doing it, but they don't know what it is. Recently, Apple has made great efforts in HTML5ArticleEric Meyer, a famous web designer, proposed the concept of Web stacks.Alex KessingerHe is a front-end engineer of Yahoo. This article describes the current situation and prospects of HTML5 applications.

I. Terms

First, let's talk about several definitions in HTML5 applications.

HTML5

The best HTML5 definition comes from Mark Pilgrim's dive into HTML5:

"HTML5 is the next generation of HTML after html4.01, XHTML 1.0/1.1"

It is worth mentioning that we may see html6, but according to Pilgrim's description in the whatwg blog, the next generation of HTML is likely to remove the version number concept.

Application

Explanation from Wikipedia:

"ApplicationProgramSoftware used by computers to execute specific tasks"

HTML5 applications

From the user's perspective, HTML5 applications are not exactly the same as other computer applications, but they are very similar. From the developer's point of view, HTML5 applications are some programs based on HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. They use open technology, can be used offline, and can replace some work of specialized platforms such as Silverlight and flash. Or, over the years, what you used to create web pages can now be used to create applications similar to desktop and smartphone programs.

II. The open-source model brings about a change

Tim o'reilly, founder of o'reilly, an open source supporter, once said in open source paradigm shift:

"The commercialization of IBM's personal computer design has moved profits from hardware to software, and open source will bring new wealth."

The value is transferred at different levels, HTML5 will become a new level, the value of goods is declining, the current browser has become a commodity, but this is no problem, as long as they all comply with standards. People say that we can place the operating system in a browser, but this line is not accessible. If we can learn something from past experiences, we cannot simply copy the previous model, like the changes from broadcasting to television, you can't simply put a camera in front of an announcer, and putting the operating system into a browser is not necessarily more valuable than HTML5 offline applications.

Iii. Importance of release channels

Channels such as Apple App Store and Android app store will become dominant. In addition, some new channels such as valve game channels and Netflix movie channels will emerge, in the "Cloud" era, these release channels are used to organize and classify users like operating systems in the desktop era.

4. How do we reach this stage?

There are two key factors.

Thanks to web standards

Although the browser market is not uniform, at least they all run HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. When we want to launch something through the Web, we know that users can see it in any case. However, can you imagine that people define their own web scenarios, if someone does not use HTTP or HTML, it is the end of the world. W3C organizations keep browser manufacturers in the same direction.

We don't have many rendering engines.

Browsers are not doing well. Billions of web pages are uneven.CodeIndependent developers are not given the opportunity to design their own browsers. Therefore, there are always a small number of vendors capable of designing browsers. In practice, we have only four main browser rendering engines today, trident (IE), gecko (Mozilla, Firefox), WebKit (chrome, Safari), and presto (opera). Many browsers are built on these rendering engines. This means that no matter what kind of device, we don't have to worry about what kind of browser it uses. No matter what kind of device, as long as it has a browser, there will be an environment that can run HTML5.

5. Standard date available?

Ian Hixie is the most popular saying about the time when HTML5 became a standard:

"It is estimated that HTML5 will not form W3C recommendation standards until 2022."

However, although the formation of standards is still waiting for time, browser vendors are already implementing various HTML5 functions.

Function Test vs browser Test

If you are a developer, you can use those advanced features, but you need to perform Function Testing and provide progressive design. There are a large number of function test libraries, such as modernizer. In addition, Mark Pilgrim has a list that allows you to detect any function.

6. Offline API

Offline API is the foundation of all HTML5 applications. It is not just about offline data. For developers, local storage is naturally good, but how to make programs run completely offline? Application cache is the answer. If you cannot save source files and data offline, you cannot implement offline HTML5 applications.

We currently have several offline storage mechanisms, such as localstorage and SQL storage engines, which are supported by some browsers. The latest star is indexed database, it is supported by all mainstream browsers. These offline application and data storage capabilities are the foundation of HTML5. Currently, WebKit and Firefox can be implemented, and ie9 will be implemented soon. Instant ie9 support also needs to wait. Think about the scenarios where offline applications are most needed. Naturally, smart phones and Netbooks are used. Most smartphones use WebKit.

VII. W3C Web application Workgroup: the next step for HTML5 applications

W3C webapps standards have already done a lot of work, including API and HTML5 web program details.

Packaging and deployment of HTML5 applications

,"For local/offline HTML5 applications, W3C widget packaging and configuration is the preferred mechanism and will become the de facto standard. Many vendors have begun to implement it. W3C widgets supports Vodafone s60 and Samsung mobile phones on any platform, opera desktop and mobile browsers, bolt browsers, and Windows Mobile 6.5. Blackberry also supports, but special Java packages are required."

These are standards. In essence, if you have an HTML5 application, it will contain HTML, CSS, and JS. These standards only help developers package and release their programs, if you are familiar with pear, they are similar concepts. You may need some metadata to tell the system how your programs are packaged together. on platforms that support these standards, you can ensure that your users can run these programs smoothly.

8. Others

HTML5 has more APIs to help developers create applications. These APIs allow your programs to access local files, cameras, socket communication services, and hardware animation acceleration. These APIs are just the beginning, and more such APIs will be available in the future.

9. Where can HTML5 programs be applied?

Of course, it is a browser. If a device has a browser or rendering engine and the engine is a modern engine, it can run HTML5 programs. HTML5 programs are used in the following scenarios.

Desktop

If you have a browser that complies with web standards, you can run HTML5 applications. Desktop is still important.

Site Browser

Websites such as Gmail can be seen as an application and run in a dedicated browser. Such browsers do not have an address bar and are used to run specified site applications. They can even create an installation package for distribution. The following resources are worth noting: prism, fluid/Fluidium, and nativehost.

Mobile Domain

This is the most popular place for HTML5. The iPhone can be integrated with many programs and display your program on its desktop today (here is a tutorial). Android also supports the required HTML5 API, but the integration is not good enough. In the next few years, mobile browsers supporting HTML5 will spring up and it is wise to migrate your applications to HTML5, because HTML5 will run well on these devices.

Cross-border

Some companies are about to release their TV platforms, Google TV and Apple TV. Google said their TV platform will support HTML5, and we don't know what Apple's TV platform will support, in view of their recent hype about HTML5, it is very likely that they also support it. Other TV box manufacturers, such as boxee, have started to support HTML5. If you want to develop applications for boxee, instead of developing them specifically, you should use HTML5 directly.

There are a large number of platforms in the cross-border field. The number of TVs that can connect to computers is growing. We can already watch Youtube in full screen on TV, while the popular Wii has built-in opera. All of these are based on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

10. HTML5 App Store

Eric Meyer talked about HTML5 applications. He applied HTML5 to Web stack apps. To get more attention from HTML5, he can build an HTML5 app store. Chrome is doing this, and palm already has something like this.

App Store is a good thing that developers can get paid directly without relying on advertising as they do now. At the same time, users will also find a place to find programs for their devices.

11. HTML5 Market Prospects

HTML5 is growing rapidly and deserves everyone's close attention. In the past one or two years, many companies have entered this field. We may see some important manufacturers in the Chrome app store, we also hope to see some app stores in the Google TV and Apple TV fields. HTML5 will form its own ecosystem like traditional flash, flex, Silverlight, and objective-C. HTML5 will be more likely to appear on any device than Flash, flex, Silverlight, and objective-C.

For the younger generation of developers, HTML5 should be their preferred skill. HTML5 will form a large market and many companies need talents in this field.

English version: the state of HTML5 apps | six revisions
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