Is it too soon to jump into HTML5?

[mikmik]

According to this site http://html5test.com/ , FireFox 5.0 only partially supports form validation. Here is the form support for my browser FF5:

Overall Forms compliance = 51/98
Field types
input type=search Yes ✔
input type=tel Yes ✔
input type=url Yes ✔
input type=email Yes ✔
input type=datetime No ✘
input type=date No ✘
input type=month No ✘
input type=week No ✘
input type=time No ✘
input type=datetime-local No ✘
input type=number Partial ○
input type=range Partial ○
input type=color No ✘
input type=checkbox Yes ✔
input type=image Partial ○
textarea Yes ✔
select Yes ✔
fieldset Yes ✔
datalist Yes ✔
keygen Partial ○
output Yes ✔
progress No ✘
meter No ✘
Fields
Field validation Yes ✔
Association of controls and forms Partial ○
Other attributes Partial ○
CSS selectors Yes ✔
Events Yes ✔
Forms
Form validation Partial ○

IE 9 is bad for html5 support so I imagine IE8 is very bad. FF, Chrome, and Opera (10.5+) are rated high for compatibility. I notice FF5 supports the canvas element and is good for video and perfect for audio.

I want to use html5 myself if it wasn't for IE. I'm very new to this so I'd like to see how others are faring.

[weegillis]

#mikmik, we're all very new at this. The beauty is we get to be at the invention stage of the wheel, not getting run over by it.

In the past year a whole plethora of new sites and new tools have emerged that relish in the joys of new HTML5 elements, CSS3 transitions, transforms, animation and pseudo elements, and the beefed up DOM. Granted, it is still the leading edge of an evolving technology, but it is also still HTML.

There is no new language to learn, just newer implementations of an old one. I wouldn't let IE's lack of support get in the way, either. If you follow the suggestions for backward compatibility and cross browser support, your site will work for those browsers that support the enhancements, and will still display all its content in the usual fashion for older browsers. Several small libraries are now available to get over the IE and mixed support humps, so there is very little to have to re-invent. The hard part is taken care of.

I came across and use this shim:

<!--[if lt IE 9]><script src="http://html5shiv.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/html5.js"></script><![endif]-->

The documentation is available on googlecode.com. It basically updates the DOM for browsers older than IE 9 so they can style the new elements and support at least some of CSS3. Study a little of the compatibility concerns that are well documented by now, and you'll be way ahead of your other classmates when it comes time to break out the code, especially since much of it is already written for you (assuming their authors intended for you to copy and paste). Just remember to credit whomever you borrow code from with a url in your source code.

Definitely don't turn away from HTML5 just because it is so new and unestablished. It is the new HTML, and it's not going to go away. Fortunately, neither is HTML. We can still code away in HTML till our heart's content, but why drive a Volkswagen when you can drive a BMW?

[mikmik]

Thanks, Weegillis. That little snippet is a great idea. I was worried about using millions of conditionals and hacks like box model problems 5 - 9 yrs ago. I've been out of it for 3 or 4 years and I have to relearn a lot of the css properties, but it's coming back fast.
I will concentrate html5 absolutely and luckily I've already started learning Jquery.
Just found out about Adobe getting this editor out for Adobe Edge:

Simplify HTML animation.
Download the new Adobe® Edge Preview today and be one of the first to utilize this powerful new tool that helps you efficiently create animated content with web standards like HTML/HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS.

It is for creating animations, like Flash, for html5 pages...

Visualize animations in an intuitive timeline-based interface
Create new compositions from scratch, energize imported graphics files, or add interactivity to existing documents with best-of-breed accuracy and performance.
Trust that your animated content works on multiple screens
Content created with the Adobe Edge Preview is designed and tested to work reliably on the Android™ and iOS platforms, WebKit-enabled devices, and browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer 9.
Take a test drive and tell us what you think
This is just a preview of what's to come. Please visit the discussion board on Adobe Labs to give us feedback and help shape future releases.

I gotta go, see you in a bit....

[Glen Lawrence]

I keep tabs on the developments of HTML5, but I don't really plan to make the switch anytime soon. I will only ever consider using it professionally when it no longer has so many issues.

[weegillis]

I will only ever consider using it professionally when it no longer has so many issues.

It's the professionals who need to begin using it so that the issues are discovered and vetted. In the hands of amateurs, ..., well, we know so very little in the grand scheme of things.

The issues are few, when we get right down to it. It's not all that new, really. It is only an extra layer of functionality added to the old (and still legitimate) specification.

Mostly it comes down to leaving our comfort zone and striking out for the unknown. Along the way we find that many people have gone before, and it's not as daunting as one might have expected. In the earlier days we had to learn and understand all the hacks. Now there are none, but, there is a slough of proprietary stuff that needs to be sorted out, and it is being sorted out from what I can tell.

If every house set aside some resources and people to take on the challenges of HTML5 and did just one project, before the year is out we would have a world of learning at our doorstep. It might be risky or even foolhardy to take a hardened, established site and try to make the switch, but a new project started from the ground up? No brainer. Don't you want to get your feet wet?

[Glen Lawrence]

You raise a good point, but in all due respect, it's not convincing enough to risk an investment on my part. I'll just sit on the sides and wait until HTML5 is stable enough to rely on.

[alphaomega]

You raise a good point, but in all due respect, it's not convincing enough to risk an investment on my part. I'll just sit on the sides and wait until HTML5 is stable enough to rely on.

I suggest to perhaps read this article: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10t...43?tag=nl.e108

[mikmik]

I suggest to perhaps read this article: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10t...43?tag=nl.e108

Yes, that is a great article which leads into a step by step tutorial.
Html5 is also almost risk free with Modernizr
Taking advantage of the new capabilities of HTML5 and CSS3 can mean sacrificing control over the experience in older browsers. Modernizr 2 is your starting point for making the best websites and applications that work exactly right no matter what browser or device your visitors use.
Explanation/tutorial for using Modernizer from A List Apart:
Modernizr: the feature-detection library for HTML5 and CSS3 Modernizr is an open-source JavaScript library that makes it easy for web designers to support different levels of experiences, based on the capabilities of the visitor’s browser. This allows designers to take full advantage of everything in HTML5 and CSS3 that is implemented in some browsers, without sacrificing control over the user experience in other browsers.
There is so much script support that you can even make most browsers render all Html5 properly:
HTML5 Cross Browser Polyfills
The general idea is that: we, as developers, should be able to develop with the HTML5 apis, and scripts can create the methods and objects that should exist. Developing in this future-proof way means as users upgrade, your code doesn't have to change but users will move to the better, native experience cleanly.
The Documentation for Modernizer explains all about using polyfills and has more links for every html5 attribute.
Remember that learning this stuff is very important for coding for mobile:‘320 and Up’ prevents mobile devices from downloading desktop assets by using a tiny screen’s stylesheet as its starting point. Try this page at different window sizes and on different devices to see it in action.
That's all for now
Mike

[weegillis]

Modernizr is what it is. But it mustn't take away from the fact that we shouldn't have to fill in the gaps (that seem deliberately set).

We've been talking 'language of the web' for going on two decades and all we have is a Tower of Babel while corporations fight over patents. How the heck is anyone ever going to be able to call anything 'the language of the web?'

[alphaomega]

Yes, that is a great article which leads into a step by step tutorial.
Html5 is also almost risk free with Modernizr
Taking advantage of the new capabilities of HTML5 and CSS3 can mean sacrificing control over the experience in older browsers. Modernizr 2 is your starting point for making the best websites and applications that work exactly right no matter what browser or device your visitors use......................................That's all for now
Mike

A very interesting and useful. Thanks for sharing