Should I be using HTML5?

[artcoder]

I have not been using HTML5 because I thought it to be still "too new". But then I heard that Google Wave was built as a HTML5 app. So I thought, "if Google is using HTML5, perhaps I should too"

Should I start using (and learning) HTML5?

[ralph.m]

You can certainly use the HTML5 doctype, as lot of sites are doing, and a few of the new tags, but I'm not sure how many new features are really supported by browsers, so it is not time to use it properly yet.

Here is a useful guide:
http://articles.sitepoint.com/articl...napshot-2009/3

[felgall]

The HTML 5 doctype is identical to the short version of the HTML 2 doctype and so is valid for any version of HTML except HTML 1.

Most sites still use a lot of HTML 3.2 code and haven't finished transitioning to HTML 4 so it will be a long time before HTML 5 has any significant use - especially since it is still years away from being finalised.

[ryanhellyer]

Like felgall says, you can use the doctype, just not the HTML5 specific code itself. The only real advantage is that the doctype is slightly shorter than HTML4 or any of the XHTML ones.

[vkoduru]

To be honest, you always have to support older browsers cause not all users update to the latest and greatest, so I don't thin HTML5 is going to become truly useful for another two years or so at least.

[kikykuang]

Google now use HTML4, the HTML5 Coming need a long time, so i think not need to start using it.

[felgall]

Originally Posted by vkoduru

To be honest, you always have to support older browsers cause not all users update to the latest and greatest, so I don't thin HTML5 is going to become truly useful for another two years or so at least.

It will be a lot longer than that before HTML 5 reaches candidate standard stage and before it gets that far it will be contantly changing and so using it before that for anything except experimental pages will mean that you will need to rewrite your pages regularly.

Based on how quickly HTML 4 has been adopted since it became a standard a date of 2040 to see everyone using HTML 5 is probably overly optomistic. We may see most web sites upgraded to use HTML 4 by 2020 but at the current rate of progress even that may be optimistic. There are still many new web sites being written using HTML 3.2.

[ryanhellyer]

Originally Posted by felgall

We may see most web sites upgraded to use HTML 4 by 2020 but at the current rate of progress even that may be optimistic. There are still many new web sites being written using HTML 3.2.

Thankfully that has no bearing on whether we can use it ourselves or not.

[flooby]

What's the downside to your site not being HTML 5 compliant?

[Alex]

Originally Posted by flooby

What's the downside to your site not being HTML 5 compliant?

For the time being, I don't think there much of a downside due to the lack of true support.

Alex

[ryanhellyer]

Originally Posted by flooby

What's the downside to your site not being HTML 5 compliant?

Nothing, apart from the meagre difference in the number of characters in the doctype.

In theory you also get support for a few extra tags in browsers which have chosen to implement them, but those tags probably work in those browsers even with an HTML4 doctype anyway.

[satya prakash]

ok. Do anyone know what is the difference between <input type=search > and <input type=text>
I have used it on my blog http://www.satya-weblog.com but cannot see any difference except auto complete difference. Whatever I have searched on google comes here as well in auto complete.

[felgall]

Originally Posted by satya prakash

ok. Do anyone know what is the difference between <input type=search > and <input type=text>
I have used it on my blog http://www.satya-weblog.com but cannot see any difference except auto complete difference. Whatever I have searched on google comes here as well in auto complete.

Most browsers do not recognise type=search and so discard it and use the default type=text instead. You'd need to wait for browsers to support type=search before seeing the difference.

[michaelis]

Hello All.
This is michaelis, I am running my IT engineering. I have mixed feelings about HTML5. There are bits that seem like they are throwing everything but the <kitchen> </sink> into it as a tag but then it almost makes up for some of that in the way they are adding some really useful tags like <header> and <nav> (that gives you all kinds of possibilities when it comes to parsing a document and knowing what the content is, a <div> could be anything from an article, to a header, to a navigation section, but <nav> is the navigation of the site).

[felgall]

Originally Posted by michaelis

There are bits that seem like they are throwing everything but the <kitchen> </sink> into it as a tag but then it almost makes up for some of that in the way they are adding some really useful tags like <header> and <nav> (that gives you all kinds of possibilities when it comes to parsing a document and knowing what the content is, a <div> could be anything from an article, to a header, to a navigation section, but <nav> is the navigation of the site).

There is plenty of time for all that to get fixed over the next ten years or so before it becomes a standard - if it ever does.

[Stomme poes]

Off Topic:

There are bits that seem like they are throwing everything but the <kitchen> </sink> into it as a tag

Hm, that reminds me of a certain text editor...

[cooper.semantics]

Originally Posted by artcoder

I have not been using HTML5 because I thought it to be still "too new". But then I heard that Google Wave was built as a HTML5 app. So I thought, "if Google is using HTML5, perhaps I should too"

Should I start using (and learning) HTML5?

I'd imagine it would be of good use to learn it, but carrying out development using html5 syntax isn't of much value regarding browser support.

When this book is released, I would recommend reading it:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/HTML5-Up-Run...4426625&sr=1-2

[felgall]

Originally Posted by Ellas

What's nice about this new DOCTYPE, especially, is that all current browsers (IE, FF, Opera, Safari) will look at it and switch the content into standards mode - even though they don't implement HTML5.

Thats because HTML5 uses the short version of the HTML2 doctype. Using that doctype for HTML2 is just as valid as using it for HTML5. The only difference is that you are not providing any information on which version of HTML you are using for validators to validate your code according to the appropriate version.

[AlexDawson]

Originally Posted by cooper.semantics

I'd imagine it would be of good use to learn it, but carrying out development using html5 syntax isn't of much value regarding browser support.

While that's true there are ways of synthesizing support for certain elements using JavaScript and CSS, so it's not a total loss, I think it really depends whether you want to work on the bleeding edge or in the safety net, but of course experimentation is always a good thing if you have the time

[felgall]

Originally Posted by AlexDawson

While that's true there are ways of synthesizing support for certain elements using JavaScript and CSS, so it's not a total loss, I think it really depends whether you want to work on the bleeding edge or in the safety net, but of course experimentation is always a good thing if you have the time

You are assuming that the current draft will survive intact fore a significant amount of time. Given the amount of garbage it currently contains that seems unlikely.

[LiamDee]

Of course! The browser that couldn't handle animated gif's!. Of course! The browser that mandates separate processes because it figures crashing is OK. Of Course!

[Nick van Beers]

So only the doctype is changed?

[AlexDawson]

Felgall, well it's not called the bleeding edge for no reason, you have to expect that over time things will change, stuff will disappear, new elements and properties will appear and you'll need to spend a lot more time maintaining it to keep it up-to-date. That said, most of the new elements in the spec will probably remain unchanged, especially those related to the semantic structure of the document (in place of what we use generic DIV's for).

PS: Nick, you should probably read the specification if you think only the doctype changed in HTML5.

[zcorpan]

http://www.w3.org/TR/html5-diff/ is probably a more usable document to read if you're interested in what's changed.

[cignusweb]

Please help me any ebook avlable for html5