Though all the features are not close to being 100% cross browser, and while I have only scratched the surface I think HTML5 is real game changer. I certainly am excited thus far with what I see.
Web Storage is a great new feature that is essentially cookies on steriods. Actually comparing it to cookies is a bit of a disservice. In a nutshell web storage is a hash (associative array, aka key/value pairs) that you can store persistent or per session. The most interesting to me is persistent, though this term is a bit of a misnomer as the cache is only persistant until one clears out their browser cache. Session can also be useful for maintaining page to page context where you do not want to make a trip back to the server. In general I think it is still going to be appropriate to maintain session and persistent context server-side, but this really is a nice option for certain development scenarios.
Client Side SQL DB - I have not done anything with this one yet, but it the feature that excites me the most. A client side database you say... what for? Being able to put a database on the client opens up a wealth of possibilities for resident apps. Yes... yes... I know we are entering the age of the cloud (which also is very cool and about time) and 24/7 connectivity, but the possibilites for pc or tablet apps is very thought provoking indeed. Especially coupled with the new file system api's. Think Dropbox on a much broader and grander scale!
I also like the new audio and video tags, though there have are means of doing this for some time.
When you couple HTML5 , CSS3, and killer libraries like JQuery one can really begin to build some wicked apps.
I started working with HTML a month before they implemented tables (seriously). We could only dream back then. Today our only excuse seems to be our own lack of imagination :-). For someone that has been riding the web train since Clinton was President these are some very exciting times to be doing web development.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Thursday, October 4, 2012
These are merely tools we use
My email tag at GE says "It is not about the tools, it is what the carpenter does with them."
If only I had a better set of golf clubs I would be a better golfer. More times than not this seems to be our mentality in technology. The technologies we use are nothing more than tools. What we craft with these tools is up to us, our imagination, skill... and of course our collective ability to communicate and to work and play well with others.
Twenty years ago we had to limit our imagination and consider things like can I really afford 3k for that image in my webpage? We needed to do all sorts of contortions to build web content. Web applications were something we only dreamed about. We were cave dwellers trying to build a civilization with stone tools. Ancient civilizations can do some pretty amazing and resourceful things.
Today we are only limited by our imagination and ability. The tools we have to work with are powerful. The languages expressive. Inherent context management for our pages with a single directive. Powerful, scalable resources that are easy to implement and develop in. Answers to our current woes just a google away. It is a great time to be a software developer.
It seems we have moved past the "if only I had this tool I could..." phase. This is good because I have never been much for excuses.
Todays biggest challenge is to be able to store singular data on the backend and to interact this data with the front end user experience irrespective of the device: PC, Laptop, Netbook, Tablet, Smart Phone.
Well, what are we waiting for?
If only I had a better set of golf clubs I would be a better golfer. More times than not this seems to be our mentality in technology. The technologies we use are nothing more than tools. What we craft with these tools is up to us, our imagination, skill... and of course our collective ability to communicate and to work and play well with others.
Twenty years ago we had to limit our imagination and consider things like can I really afford 3k for that image in my webpage? We needed to do all sorts of contortions to build web content. Web applications were something we only dreamed about. We were cave dwellers trying to build a civilization with stone tools. Ancient civilizations can do some pretty amazing and resourceful things.
Today we are only limited by our imagination and ability. The tools we have to work with are powerful. The languages expressive. Inherent context management for our pages with a single directive. Powerful, scalable resources that are easy to implement and develop in. Answers to our current woes just a google away. It is a great time to be a software developer.
It seems we have moved past the "if only I had this tool I could..." phase. This is good because I have never been much for excuses.
Todays biggest challenge is to be able to store singular data on the backend and to interact this data with the front end user experience irrespective of the device: PC, Laptop, Netbook, Tablet, Smart Phone.
Well, what are we waiting for?
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