What Does HTML5 Mean for Web Development?

The practice of web development is based upon using a variety of technical languages to 'write' or 'code' sites online. Developers study for years to get a good grasp of these languages so that they are able to build the amazing effects you see on modern websites. Understandably, then, when a new mark-up language is released it is usually surrounded by a considerable amount of both hype and trepidation from web development professionals.

HTML5, or Hyper Text Markup Language version 5, is the latest in a line of web development languages created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), since 1990. HTML5 is still officially under development, but many online development projects have started taking advantage of all that the new language offers.

HTML5 is in many ways a response to the changing nature of development solutions for website; it has been designed to work consistently across multiple platforms, it is user friendly and supports all the latest forms of multimedia. A particularly useful feature of HTML5 is the various new syntactical and semantic elements which simplify the development process and standardise the coding of websites.

The primary resource for learning more about using HTML5 in website development is the W3C specifications publication. This document outlines how HTML5 is especially designed for easier development of apps as well as giving instructions on how to use the new syntactical structures and elements. As useful as this document is, it can be a little hard to follow for a stranger to website development. To get a better grasp of HTML5 for web development, it could be more useful to learn of the benefits the new mark-up language offers:

• Dynamic Movement: HTML5 supports website development that is more intuitive, fluid and captivating for the user. HTML5 sites can easily create an illusion of movement that gives the user more choice in their navigation, with the option to move objects and take a fresh view of the page.
• Simplified Semantics: HTML5 features many mark-up elements that cut out messy coding problems and slim down the time typically spent in the development stage of website. The simplified code also makes it easier to test web developments against standards and to check for flaws.
• Interactivity: Web developments that have already started using HTML feature a heavy focus on interactivity and user directed content. Many of these include games, manual drawing or image editing applications, and other elements that draw on the user's creativity. Many of these web developments are largely experimental, but successfully showcase the visual responsiveness of HTML5.