CHAPTER 1
An Overview of HTML5 and CSS
HTML5 and CSS3 are more than just two new standards proposed by the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and its working groups. They are the next
iteration of technologies you use every day, and they’re here to help you build
better modern web applications. Before we dive deep into the details of HTML
and CSS3, let’s talk about some benefits of those standards, as well as some
of the challenges we’ll face.1.1 A Stronger Platform for Web Development
A lot of the new features of HTML center on creating a better platform for
web-based applications. From more descriptive tags and better cross-site and
cross-window communication to animations and improved multimedia sup-
port, developers using HTML5 have a lot of new tools to build better user
experiences.Backward Compatibility
One of the best reasons for you to embrace HTML5 today is that it works in
most existing browsers. Right now, even in Internet Explorer 6, you can start
using HTML5 and slowly transition your markup. It’ll even validate with the
W3C’s validation service (conditionally, of course, because the standards are
still evolving).If you’ve worked with HTML or XML, you’ve come across the doctype declara-
tion before. It’s used to tell validators and editors what tags and attributes
you can use and how the document should be formed. Additionally, a lot of
web browsers use it to determine how they will render the page. A valid doctype
often causes browsers to render pages in “standards mode.”Following is the rather verbose XHTML 1.0 Transitional doctype used by many
sites.Download from Wow! eBook <www.wowebook.com> report erratum • discuss