What Is HTML5? [Kindle Edition]

Brett McLaughlin (Author)

Book Description

HTML5: Everyone’s using it, nobody knows what it is. I realize that sounds more like a line out of an existential movie — maybe Waiting for Godot or a screenplay by Sartre — than a statement about HTML5. But it’s really the truth: most of the people using HTML5 are treating it as HTML4+, or even worse, HTML4 (and some stuff they don’t use). The result? A real delay in the paradigm shift that HTML5 is almost certain to bring. It’s certainly not time to look away, because by the time you look back, you may have missed something really important: a subtle but important transition centered around HTML5.

Product Details

• File Size: 199 KB
• Print Length: 22 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (July 13, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005ISQ7JM
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,832 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
  • #2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Computers & Technology > Programming

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 42 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars The price is right! October 24, 2011

By Mark S. Millman

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

It is really difficult to complain about something that is free but I did spend the time to read the entire pamphlet hoping that I'd find something useful; and I didn't. I'm not sure who the target audience is intended to be. It seemed to me that to understand the context of the thesis you'd have to know more than a little bit about HTML and DOM to begin with. But even with that little bit of HTML and DOM knowledge you'd be frustrated because you never get a clear example of HTML versus HTML5. And if you didn't have that baseline HTML and DOM expertise then I think that "What is HTML5?" would leave you baffled.

I gave two stars because the points the author makes are valid and important, and it didn't cost me anything but my time. I just think that the points could have been made as effectively (maybe more so) in a 300 word blog entry, which would have been worth the time to read.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Bird's Eye View of HTML5 for Web Developers October 27, 2011

By Dr. Bojan Tunguz HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

HTML5 has been perhaps the most talked about revision of the web's native tongue since the early days of hyperlinked graphical online content. Over the years web has evolved far away from the paradigm of various linked "documents" which featured animation and interactivity as a bit of an afterthought. Various websites have become sophisticated enough to handle even the most demanding tasks that until recently on stand-alone desktop applications were capable of accomplishing. HTML alone was unable to handle many such applications on its own, and their implementation oftentimes require almost heroic efforts of coding wizardry and an alphabet soup of various online add-ons. This is where HTML5 comes in. It is designed from the ground up to be both compatible with previous versions of HTML, and provide the developer with an integrated approach to a whole variety of online formats and behaviors.

Brett McLaughlin's "What Is HTML5?" is a longish article that aims to explain the rationale and importance of HTML5 from a very conceptual standpoint. This eBook is aimed primarily at the web developer community, but even those of us who are less immersed in all the intricacies of cool website design can appreciate the information that we can glean from reading this material. This is not a technical introduction to HTML5, so if you are looking for a brief description of all the new tags and features you will be seriously disappointed. However, if you are interested in understanding how exactly is HTML5 revolutionizing web development and what its implementation means for the whole industry, then you will find many very interesting insights and points within this eBook. For instance, there are certain misconceptions about what is the exact relation between HTML5 and JavaScript, as well as about the causal relation between web on mobile devices and the advent of HTML5. McLaughlin tries to clear up some of the confusion, and in my opinion he largely succeeds in this.

One of my favorite things about this book is its style: McLaughlin approaches the subject of HTML5 relatively casually, and his writing is peppered with colorful imagery and healthy dose of humor. Even though this short eBook is aimed at the technical audience, it is not written in geek-speak. I would strongly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the latest developments in web standards and technology.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Absolute waste of time if you are a coder December 26, 2011

By Ali Muzaffar

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Absolute waste of time if you are a coder.

If you are manager or analyst and just want to get an idea of what HTML5 is and why it's such a big deal on an extremely high level, this book _may_ be worth your time, though I would still say its too high level and 1-dimensional.

I got out of the book as much as I paid for it.