HTML, XHTML & CSS

20
Part V: The Future of (X)HTML
HTML5 Web APIs
An API defines rules for communication and interaction with other programs
from inside a specific program. For most people, the Web APIs of greatest
import for HTML5 are those that are called from inside HTML documents, to
invoke special functionality for things like playing audio, playing video, and
interacting with other applications, and that help to add to the Web browser
user interface (dragging and dropping objects in Web pages, for example).
Here’s a list of APIs that HTML5 incorporates with the intent of providing
“help in creating Web applications” (this quote comes directly from the
“APIs” section in the “W3C HTML5 Differences from HTML4” document cited
two sections earlier):
✓ Video and audio playback API, for use with the new video and audio
elements
✓ Access to offline Web applications through a special API
✓ An API designed for Web applications to register themselves to receive
certain protocols and media types
✓ An API to permit page visitors to edit content and markup in concert
with the new global contenteditable attribute.
✓ A drag-and-drop API used with the draggable attribute to permit users
to drag and drop items onto Web pages to provide input
✓ An API that exposes browser history data and that permits pages to add
to that data to prevent breaking the Back button.
Mostly, these APIs are where the significant action is for HTML5 (think about
the Adobe Flash controversy we covered earlier in this chapter) and where
change is nearly inevitable between the draft version and whatever more
final form(s) HTML5 takes. APIs are the keys to user interaction and dynamic
page behavior, and they will figure heavily into future uses for (and applications
of) the Web and the Internet, especially in an era when many people are
coming to believe that the Web and the Internet are more interchangeable
than otherwise.
Limits to HTML5 Access and Use
Most Web browsers support HTML5 features in some form or fashion, with
varying degrees of support and enthusiasm. Currently, Apple Safari and
Google Chrome appear to be leading the way, followed by Mozilla Firefox,
and then Opera, with Microsoft Internet Explorer dead last among the Top 5.
This is entirely understandable, because not all these companies can release
products overnight.