The future of HTML 5 and CSS

HTML website designs can now be more creative than ever before! Continuous updates have adopted HTML 5 and CSS 3 as the future, but some have refused to acknowledge the change. HTML 5 has many exciting updates. These include error handling, audio and video, timed media playback, document editing, cross-document management, microdata, and browser history management.

CSS 3 also has a bright future for web developers. CSS 3 includes media queries, flexible layouts, animations, and transitions. For the most part, web developers have accepted that some of the things we learn today can be obsolete tomorrow, but that’s the nature of the web development industry. It is forever changing and updating.

HTML Stands for…

HTML stands for Hypertext markup language. It is a standardized system for tagging text files to achieve color font, graphics, and hyperlink effects on the internet. HTML has been around since 1991 and has undergone numerous changes and updates. The most current version of HTML is HTML 5.

HyperText Markup Language 5 (HTML5) allows you to embed media directly into your web page. Some additional controls that help improve audio and video usage in HTML5 include autoplay, loop, and preload. Autoplay, when enabled, allows the video to play automatically without waiting for the rest of the page to reload. When a loop is used, it provides audio on a page to automatically loop back to the beginning after reaching the end.

Preload will allow audio or video to load when ready to be played. Lastly, a buffer can automatically buffer media, even if the developer sets the media not to play automatically.

The difference between older HTML and HTML 5

Another difference between HTML 4.01 and HTML 5 is that 5 has error handling. HTML supports “tag soup,” or the ability to write malformed code and have it correctly turned into a valid document. The problem with this is that the rules are not written down anywhere. When a new browser enters the market, it must test malformed documents in various browsers and adjust its handling; otherwise, many pages will not display correctly.

An estimated 90% of web pages are somewhat malformed. With HTML 5, developers are trying to discover and codify error handling so that it saves web developers time and money, and enables consistent display of content.

Media Play

Timed media playback is another update that HTML5 has. For example, timed media can be very challenging; compressed media files usually contain data files for video and audio streams, captions, synchronization information, and chapter information.

Before HTML 5, Flash was the preferred choice for implementing video presentations on the web. Now, HTML5 includes unique tags for supporting audio and video, as well as many interfaces for scripting.

Video elements can play videos, and audio components can play audio files. Instead, HTML 5 will utilize JavaScript, which is easier for web developers and browsers experienced with JavaScript, but may cause issues for those accustomed to animating with Flash and inputting code to support it.

CSS Refers to…

Web pages use cascading Style Sheets to help keep information in the proper display format and by web designers to make web pages more attractive. Cascading Style Sheet files help define the font, size, color, spacing, border, and location of HTML information.

CSS can control the layout of multiple web pages simultaneously by using an external style sheet that can be easily added to the code of various web pages. This helps web designers stay organized and maintain an excellent flow to the website by ensuring that several pages have a similar feel.

Updates on CSS 3

Some recent updates that CSS 3 is looking to make are to manage the layout in a way that feels less challenging. Flexbox and Grid Layout fix these changes. For example, Flexbox and Grid layouts address the relative scaling, alignment, and ordering of elements both vertically and horizontally.

Flexbox works very well with browsers and is becoming increasingly popular as a layout tool for web developers. The grid layout is similar, composed of rows and columns of cells, and is provided by media queries. A grid layout enables a more complex layout solution.

Media Queries

Another update with CSS 3 is the introduction of media queries. Media queries are a module that allows content rendering to adapt conditions such as screen resolution. Media queries have zero or more expressions, which resolve either true or false. You can compose media queries using logical operators. This update enhances media queries, making it easier to read and navigate the site across multiple devices, including computer monitors and smart devices.

CSS3 flexbox, also known as flexible boxes, ensures that elements behave predictably when the page layout houses different screen sizes and display devices. The flexbox is declared by setting the display property of an element to either ‘block’ or ‘inline’. Typically, a flexbox contains more than one flex item.

Animations & Transitions

Animations and transitions in CSS3 occur when you change values from one value to another over a given duration. This can happen when you move your mouse over an element with a transition effect. The transition effect will start when the CSS3 value changes (i.e., the width). Other CSS3 transition properties include transition, transition-delay, transition-duration, transition-property, and transition-timing functions.

Transition delay specifies a delay for a transition effect, which typically occurs in seconds. Transition duration specifies how many seconds or milliseconds a transition takes to complete. Transition is a shorthand property for setting four transition properties into one single property. The transition property specifies the name of the CSS property effect and its purpose. The transition-timing function defines the speed curve and the transition of the effect.

W3C and WHATWG

Although there are many other new and exciting updates planned for HTML, some developers consider HTML 5 to be lagging in development. Because of this, they believe that HTML will soon become obsolete. According to an article by CNET, two companies, the W3C and WHATWG, have been competing for the last few years over the development of HTML. Because of this competition between the two companies, there are consequences. The most significant is that anything that slows the improvement of the web means that programs are more likely to focus all their attention on apps for smartphones instead of writing HTML.

The difference between W3C is that they use a formally structured, deliberate process in which successions of drafts gradually become the final standard. WHATWG aims to improve HTML. WHATWG came up with a “living document that continuously updates the latest futures and bug fixes.

The way CSS has been written has also changed. CSS is now divided into many small files, known as modules, built using command-line tools such as Grunt or Gulp to combine them into a single file for deployment. This can enhance the performance of CSS, which has seen a significant increase in complexity and scope of implementations.

HTML 5 CSS 3 Future

HTML 5 and CSS 3 are future technologies that will undoubtedly change a lot and have since they first came about. Even though some developers believe that HTML5 will become obsolete, I think there are many exciting features that web designers can use to build engaging web pages. HTML includes error handling, audio and video support, timed media playback, document editing, cross-document management, microdata, and browser history management. CSS 3 includes media queries, flexible layouts, animations, and transitions.

We predict that HTML5 will slowly replace W3C and WHATWG. Eventually, we believe they will take over the HTML coding and develop a better way to create websites, especially since most web designers have turned their backs on actual web development and have focused mainly on developing user-centric web pages with high-quality content.

Also, web design will become a mainstream skill as web development tutorials and web design resources become more widely available. With this skill, most individuals will have a basic understanding of web design.

As we mentioned earlier, JavaScript has largely replaced Adobe Flash Player. According to an article by InfoWorld, it is predicted that people will no longer write JavaScript. Instead, transcoding robots will generate the code that the browser or Node.js can understand. So, as you can see, the future looks bright for HTML5 and CSS3. I’m excited about things to come, especially as web design and SEO merge into one. More and more businesses compete for high-quality web content, improved search rankings, and increased website traffic.

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