What Makes HTML5 Apps Development More Developer Friendly

The HTML5 based mobile development has gone mainstream. There is no exact reason behind the sheer inclination of enterprises towards HTML5 platform. One could say it is the luring promises made by the HTML5 for solving the problems currently faced by the enterprises these days in offering high end mobile solutions.

Moreover, the continuing battle between mobile platforms for market share has forced many companies to cater services for more than one platform, i.e. at least two or possibly more than that. Development of native mobile applications allows very little reuse of code because all the platforms are very different. As a result, supporting all multiple mobile platforms can incur three times the cost for development of an application.

Therefore, it is said that HTML5 development has answers to all these hurdles. It is because all three major mobile platforms allow for embedded web components, HTML5 components can be easily shared among all available platforms. However, a basic HTML5 app can be simply built with HTML, CSS and Javascript, many companies want some host connectivity which make use of the existing servers.

In the web technology world, there has been long debates over merits of HTML5 application development over native application development. In the end, it is concluded that each way of development has its own merits and demerits. Therefore, if you are going for HTML5 web development Services you must think it with a different perspective from traditional web application.

HTML5 And Flash: Why It’s Not A War, And Why Flash Won’t Die.

This is a false scenario: HTML5 and Flash Programming are not meant to be fighting in the same ring, or to be fighting at all. Each has its proper place on the Web and in the graphic community.

Flash’s Place

Why would Flash Programming do so well in the mobile space compared to Web-based tools and frameworks? First of all, because Flash is a powerful development tool, beyond its graphic and animation capabilities. ActionScript 3 has brought serious improvements to the overall structure and functionality of applications, allowing developers to create powerful apps.

Secondly, Flash being used across multiple platforms brings a much higher probability of consistency and compatibility. Even if comprehensive Web standards were supported across all mobile devices, there is no guarantee that we wouldn’t run into the same cross-browser headaches on the variety of mobile browsers. If Flash were supported on all mobile devices, I could be reasonably certain that my Flash module would run smoothly on each one.

HTML5′s Place

HTML5′s place, on the other hand, is entirely on the Web. And this is an outstanding development. I remember switching from table-based designs to CSS, a liberating move that gave Web designers a freedom that only we could truly appreciate. Moving forward with standards-based browsers and rich functionality via CSS3 and HTML5 will take our industry to new heights and lead to a flourishing of gorgeous websites and functionality that we’ve never before witnessed.

The Web In Two Years

Where will the chips fall when the Web design industry reaches its next stage? I may be idealistic, but I would like to see the following:

* HTML5 and CSS3 as the new Web standard.
* All browsers being compatible and standards-based.
* Flash being used more limitedly as a tool for multimedia and gaming and interaction, both online and offline.
* Mobile platforms and mobile content development being the newest and fastest-growing subset of the industry.
* Sporting Flash capabilities for robust application development across all platforms.
* And offering HTML5 , CSS3 and complex JavaScript capabilities for mobile browsing.

Conclusion

Flash has been misused and overused for the past eight years, spreading its tentacles too far into the fabric of Web design. But rather than getting beaten out of the picture by these practical new Web frameworks, Flash will retreat to its proper place: those niche areas where it belongs and can truly excel. The first niche is multimedia and learning solutions for the corporate space. Only time will tell if Flash finds its second niche on mobile platforms.

Will HTML5 replace Flash Programming?

We often think “Will HTML5 replace Flash Programming?” on the Web. The quick answer is no. However, there is a lot of nuance here and it’s helpful to make the distinction between two broad classes of content applications that are deployed in browsers.

First, there are what I would call Web Productivity Apps. These kinds of applications require responsive, cross-platform, desktop like and highly interactive experiences. They often require seamless integration with existing web content and data. For several years, the Flash Application development Platform was the best platform for creating these types of applications (per above). However, in the past several years, HTML+JavaScript (Ajax) and now HTML5 have created a highly compelling framework to build these applications, and for a large number of web productivity apps, the HTML5 approach will become the preferred model. The best examples are Google Apps, Salesforce.com, and even Microsoft’s forthcoming Office Online. There are also a class of Web Productivity Apps where Flash Programming is the preferred runtime, especially those that involve working with and manipulating media such as images, audio and video. We, like many companies, are pragmatic and use both Flash and HTML as the technology needs require. Other examples of this include rich data visualization applications, where Flash has gained prominence inside of enterprises because of its rich data and visualization features.

The second broad class of applications are what I would call Rich Media Apps. These kinds of applications include largely consumer-facing, audience and media centric experiences. In particular, this includes online video, rich media advertising and marketing, and online games (casual games). All of these kinds of applications are highly focused on having a great and immersive experience that just works, and the creators of these apps are very focused on audience reach — anything that impedes 100% consumer acceptance is a significant concern. Here, Flash is dominant. The unique runtime characteristics of Flash, combined with its incredible reach, has led these types of apps to become highly dependent on Flash, and massive amounts of the broadband economy are dependent on it. It seems unlikely that HTML5 would be at all positioned to replace Flash for these categories, though it is clearly worth watching how consistent rich media runtimes find their way into the HTML5+ standard. Right now, it is a non starter.

The Handheld Disruption:-
In the case of hand-held platforms, however, it seems quite apparent that it is not a zero-sum game. Three runtime platforms will gain adoption and often even inter-mingle — HTML 5 content and apps, Native Apps (that may contain Flash and HTML content), and HTML5 apps that contain and leverage Flash Player. There is a rich pallet of capabilities emerging, and each developer will need to consider what will be appropriate for their specific audience or application.