- HTML 5 is the next revision of the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), the standard programming language for describing the contents and appearance of Web pages. HTML 5 was adopted by the new HTML working group of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in 2007. This group published the first public draft of HTML 5 in January 2008, but refinements are expected to continue for several years before HTML 5 becomes a formal recommendation.
In theory, HTML 5 will allow the Web browser to become a development platform. A primary goal for HTML 5 is to ensure interoperability among browsers so that Web applications and documents behave the same way no matter which HTML 5-compliant browser is used to access them. (Older browsers that do not support HTML 5 will be able to ignore the new constructs and still produce legible
Web page
s.)
HTML 5 is expected to offer numerous improvements over HTML 4, including:
Contributing to IBM's DeveloperWorks site, Elliote Rusty Harold explains that HTML 5 will be:
...instantly recognizable to a Web designer frozen in ice in 1999 and thawed today. There are no namespaces or schemas. Elements don't have to be closed. Browsers are forgiving of errors. A p is still a p, and a table is still a table. At the same time, this proverbial unfrozen caveman Web designer would encounter some new and confusing elements. Yes, old friends like div remain, but now HTML includes section, header, footer, and nav as well. em, code, and strong are still present, but so are meter, time, and m. img and embed continue to be used, but now there are video and audio too.
Ian Hickson demonstrates new HTML 5 elements in this Google Developer's Talk.
The standards behind Web services: This tip digs into the status of the standards that form the WS-I Basic Profile 1.1, including those from W3C, OASIS and IETF.
Paul Fremantle on coding SOA and data integration: Paul Fremantle, co-founder of WSO2, argues that SCA has gotten too removed from what coders actually do, but he has praise the XML data bindings work at W3C.
What's new at the W3C: This article discusses how the W3C continues to be the main organization for creation of internationally recognized standards for XML, WSDL, and HTML.
The standards behind Web services: This tip digs into the status of the standards that form the WS-I Basic Profile 1.1, including those from W3C, OASIS and IETF.
LAST UPDATED:
29 May 2009
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- HTML 5 is the next revision of the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), the standard programming language for describing the contents and appearance of Web pages. HTML 5 was adopted by the new 
