World Wide Web Consortium’s HTML 5 seems to be the wave of the future since it is gradually replacing HTML 4 and XHTML. It consists of numerous new attributes and elementswhile possessing backward compatibility, and can be used to build complicated web applications. The popularity of HTML 5 is increasingly prominent owing to the shift of the masses from desktop computers to smartphones and tablets, which do not support Flash and hence require a technology like HTML 5.
Various differences exist between the two specifications, HTML 4 and HTML 5. Since the former had to use a host of plugins including Adobe’s Flash, and JavaScript for its extension in order to provide interactive multimedia presentations, the latest specification intends to encompass all of that functionality into a single, unified platform (Wong, 2012). One of the differences is the simpler doctype declaration; only <!doctype html> needs to be written in HTML 5, which has made it less complex than the previous incarnations.
Standard elements like <article> are also provided in HTML 5, allowing the content to be identified using common tags.Furthermore, some new multimedia elements and attributes have also been introduced, including <track>, which provides text tracks for the video element.The <video> and <audio> elements have also been presented for media playback, allowing the addition of content without having to rely on external technology. Web pages designed nowadays are enriched with multimedia elements in order to attract the viewers’ attention as well as to inform them. Therefore, the multimedia elements were significant additions to the new specification.
HTML 5 elements and APIs are supported by all major browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera. These browsers continue to add the updated HTML 5 features to their latest versions. However, all elements of HTML 5 are supported by no browser yet; bits and pieces of the latest specification are compatible with the browsers.
Nowadays, companies have an increased tendency to hire web developers possessing the ability to create and implement designs in HTML5. Multinational enterprises like the Imaging Source include experience with HTML 5 as essential for the eligibility of the job. Therefore, there is little doubt that HTML 5 is the present and future authoring language to create documents and web pages. This results in a broader scope for people possessing HTML 5 skills, eventually shifting the chances of employment in their favour.
Reference
Wong, W. (2012, January 6).What's the Difference Between HTML 4 and HTML 5. Retrieved from http://electronicdesign.com/embedded/whats-difference-between-html-4-and-html-5
