I’m sure by now you’ve heard that the long overdue new JQuery release is out. if not check it out.
I’ll have to admit that my favorite thing that has been done is a total over haul of the documentation. I’ve been finding it a lot easier to search and find what i need.
As always i love the new work from the JQuery team.
HTML5 has been the buzz on the interwebs for a few months now. HTML5 will be the savior to a world of bland websites, lame markup, and Flash animation. The last part is what really excites me. Sure, Flash is sexy as hell when it’s used right, but it’s not so good for SEO. There are work arounds and hacks, but why would you want to do that when your code can natively support animation?
The bummer is that the web isn’t ready for HTML5. Actually, Internet Explorer isn’t ready for it. As web developers we all know that Microsoft makes their own rules with Internet Explorer. We’re having to hack our code so that it works in that damn browser all the while Firefox 3, Safari 4, and Opera 10 all support web standards set up by W3C, including our wonderful CSS (oh, and CSS3 is in the pipeline, too!). So, if you want to use HTML5 code, you have to hack it with JavaScript so that your CSS can be read. If you’re interested in reading about that hack, checkout this article at sitepoint.com.
With all that said, I am excited about HTML5 because it provides logical structure to your code. For example, the tag for your physical header will be <header>. You can have multiple headers on your page. So you can have a header for your sidebar for example. The sidebar will be called <aside> and your navigation area will be <nav>. It all makes perfect logical sense and to a type A person such as myself, it brings much happiness to my world.
So, what does HTML5 look like? Take a look at Google Wave. They’re starting to implement the tech. Say what you will about Google, but at least they are helping advance the industry. Want a chance to play with it now? Take a look at this page: http://htmlfive.appspot.com/. Finally, if you want to see the HTML5 demo that totally blew my mind the first time I saw it, check this out: http://9elements.com/io/projects/html5/canvas/. Sure, it may not be sexy like Flash right now, but give it some time to mature. The beauty of that last demo is that everything; the animation, the music, the mouse interaction is all with HTML. No JavaScript, Flash, or any other crappy antiquated animation tools.
So while the naysayers don’t like HTML5, I say that it’s the future of the web and frankly, I can’t wait for it.
Other reading: Smashing Magazine write up and PDF of the markup.