| HTML5 Guidelines for Web Developers |
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Author: Klaus Förster & Bernd Öggl This book includes "Developer" in the title, so is it targeted at programmers? Author: Klaus Förster & Bernd Öggl There are so many books now on HTML5 that finding the one for you is a difficult task - but this one does have "Developer" in the title so perhaps it is targeted at programmers. You have to have a chapter on how HTML all started so let's skip over it and just say it tells you things you probably already know. It then goes on to tell you what is new in HTML5 using word plots which aren't particularly useful - the text does a reasonable job of alerting you to the details however.
Chapter 2 digs straight in with a look at the tags that are about Semantics and Document structure. I guess you have to know this, but there isn't a lot specifically targeting the programmer here. Chapter 3 does better with a look at intelligent forms. There is a lot to explain here, especially if you have restricted your view of the world to plain vanilla forms with no added extras. It doesn't even have to deal with the server side to demonstrate lots of new stuff because HTML5 has new form elements and client-side validation - and yes there is some simple JavaScript in this chapter. Chapter 4 moves on to look at the messy problem of video and audio tags. The problem is only messy because of the formats that you can or cannot use and so this isn't really a deep programmer type problem. How to convert formats is covered and a simple demo video player is developed. Canvas is the next major element to be covered and obviously this really is programmer territory. There is an argument that, as far as programmers are concerned, the major important element introduced with HTML is Canvas and the rest can mostly be ignored. Chapter 5 constitutes a quick introduction to Canvas that goes further than most to cover using Canvas with video and security problems. Chapter 6 continues the graphics theme with a look at SVG and MathML both of which have been around for longer then HTML5. The coverage of both is so short as to constitute nothing more than a "they exist - this is what they do - now go read something else". Chapter 7 turns to the geolocation facilities and shows you not only how to use it but discussed some of the how it works aspects. Chapter 8 moves us well into the programmer aspects of HTML5 with a look at web storage and offline web storage and so on to WebSockets in Chapter 9 and WebWorkers in Chapter 10. The only problem here is that you might have trouble finding support for these services. The final two chapters cover microdata and a collection of items that really didn't fit anywhere else - drag and drop and changes that effect the DOM. For a programmer book this doesn't have much code. What there is, however, illustrates the point being made. HTML5, with the possible exception of Canvas, isn't really a programming revolution. This book does a reasonably good job of introducing it with an emphasis on the programmer's angle. On the other hand, it is thin on alternatives to HTML5 and how to deal with browsers that don't support it yet. This is a book that will tell you mostly how to work with properly implemented HTML5 rather than realities of having to support IE 6, say. You do have to know JavaScript and understand how it interacts with HTML and the DOM. This is not a book for the non-technically minded designer, say. Overall this is solid introduction to HTML5 but nothing special. Buy it if you feel that you need to catch up quick with the technology, but don't expect it to solve all your real world problems.
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 31 October 2011 ) |