The hottest topic in the field of web front-end development in recent years is undoubtedly HTML5. HTML5 has fundamentally changed the way developers develop web applications. From desktop browsers to mobile applications, this language and standard are being It has affected and will continue to affect various operating platforms.
In the mobile field, a question that everyone debates endlessly is whether to develop web applications or native applications? With the development of the HTML5 standard, the differences between the two have gradually become blurred. Today, major media are rushing to report on things related to HTML5. So, what is the future development trend of HTML5? Let me talk about my views and some of the views I have seen that I think I agree with.
1) Mobile first
The day before yesterday, appMobi was selected as the most promising company in ReadWriterWeb2012. As a start-up company, this award company first focuses on mobile platforms How to make HTML 5 easy to use and ubiquitous.
As you can see from the endless emergence of mobile applications today, in this era of explosion of smartphones and tablets, mobile first has become a trend. No matter what is developed, it is mainly based on mobile.
As mentioned above, the problem that has been plaguing the mobile field before is whether to develop web applications or native applications. Nowadays, we see some large companies such as the Financial Times removing iPad native applications from the App Store and developing web applications in the process of entering the mobile market with HTM L5, which also performs well.
Many game developers will also play an important role in mobile Web applications. The trend of giving priority to mobile Web applications will continue until mobile devices dominate the field of information processing. In fact, users don’t care at all what tools you use to develop applications, whether it’s a web application or a native application, as long as it’s easy to use.
2) Game developers take the lead in "starring"
In fact, mobile game developers are the ones who benefit the most from HTML5. They can use this platform to escape the pay-to-play requirement. 30% commission paid to Apple. To a certain extent, games are the best-selling applications on mobile platforms and are also an important factor in attracting people to buy mobile devices.
Many game developers are driven by Facebook or Zynga, and the future Facebook application ecosystem is based on HTML5. Although it is very difficult to develop games on the HTML 5 platform, game developers are willing to do so. It is also a way to package and integrate web application games into native applications through PhoneGap and appmobi's XDK. Facebook almost does this - based on web applications and browsers, but packaging and integrating them into native applications.
3) Responsive design & automatically changing screen size
Before HTML 5 can really change the mobile development platform, an important step must be taken, and that is " "Responsive design" means that the screen can automatically resize according to the content.
One of the best examples of responsive design is BostonGlobe.com (watch the video) launched this year. Its screen can be resized according to any content. After visiting its developer Filament Group, I learned that responsive design It’s not easy either. Some basic concept designs have to be started from scratch, such as RespondJS for handling the media library, and dealing with images and ads from third parties is also an annoying problem.
If you want to do a good job in responsive design, you must understand the feedback relationship between the content and the screen. ZURB, a responsive design company from Silicon Valley, said that in fact, in the past 16 years, developers have realized responsive design It’s about moving away from “flow” entirely and instead focusing on how content is processed on web pages and mobile devices. This process is still going on, and HTML 5 will finally make it possible.
4) Device access
The biggest obstacle to eliminating the boundaries between web applications and native applications is the ability of browsers to access basic features of mobile devices, such as cameras, contacts, and calendars , accelerator, etc., in terms of using HTML5 to achieve this capability, appMobi mentioned above is considered the industry leader, and it open sourced all APIs after Thanksgiving. Mozilla has also been working hard to enhance device accessibility through its mobile browser Fennec.
For many mobile developers, improving device accessibility is the most exciting innovation of HTML5. This means that web applications can be launched on mobile devices without any PhoneGap-style packaging. Of course, game developers are the happiest because a certain Some features are blocked to them, such as accelerators that can be integrated into the game.
This opens up another world of possibilities, such as better integration with the cloud (which is beneficial for in-app purchases, message push, etc.) and improved game playability. With the HTML5 platform, developers can It then relies on Java language, CSS3, HTML and other programming languages.
5) Offline caching
This concept is quite new. The app can still operate as usual even when offline. It is considered a magical side of HTML 5. The best example of offline caching this year is Amazon Kindle’s cloud reader, which can be used through Firefox 6 or above. Chrome 11 or above, Safari 5 or above and iOS 4 or above browsers synchronize content to all Kindle series devices and can remember everything in the user's kindle library.
In this way, Amazon has realized the offline use of web applications. Many experts claim that the end of native applications is coming, because the use of web applications has become simple, frictionless, and applicable to any platform or without a platform. Of course, Mozilla's tentacles have also extended here. In fact, Mozilla wants to get involved in any field that HTML 5 can penetrate. You can learn more from Mozilla's mobile blueprint.
6) Maturity of development tools
In August this year, Brian Fling wrote a blog post called Analysis of HTML5 Web Application Development and put forward several suggestions for Reference for developers engaged in HTML 5 applications:
Be patient, the HTML5 project may take longer than developing any other project
Make a budget, it is not as simple as building a website, it may cost you a lot of money
To find the right developer, you have to remember that this is very difficult for many experienced experts, and your team will also find it difficult, so be sure to find the right person and find the right direction
To be self-reliant, you need to know that to develop HTML 5 projects, many tools must be homemade, not ready-made
In the technical world, the step-by-step dogmatic style will not work here, and will spend a lot of unnecessary funds. In the mobile field, There is no right or wrong, only whether it is suitable or not. Everything focuses on user experience.
In terms of tools, in addition to the tools provided by appMobi, there are also frameworks and IDEs provided by Sencha and Appcelerator for application developers to use. Although these tools are not mature now and are not as good as those on Android and iOS. Developer frameworks and tools are so simple and powerful, but at least they are evolving and will become more and more useful.
Summary
Other features of HTML 5, such as forms and new standards, are still evolving rapidly, and as standardization work proceeds, HTML 5 may change back to HTML . Leaders in the field of HTML 5 development include Sencha, Adobe, Appcelerator, appMobi and the three giants of Facebook, Amazon and Google.
Whether you are a developer who wants to develop a new video application such as Brightcover or a developer who wants to develop a new audio application such as Soundcloud, whether it is a desktop application or a mobile application, HTML 5 is the main theme of innovation.
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