Twelve Features Developers Expect from Upcoming HTML6
HTML5 has got the phenomenal success among the developers. It has facilitated developers in organizing content in a more relevant manner with the new tags like <article>, <section>, <header> etc.
Developers enjoy freedom from using type attribute from tags like <link> and <script>. Though HTML5 has brought a paradigm shift in web programming, it has limitations in developing native apps on the web and some other issues.
As a developer, you always want to offer effective and efficient web solutions, and HTML6 is expected to help you achieve this goal. Therefore, developers across the world are eager to embrace HTML6. It is interesting to see how expected features of HTML6 would change the web development domain.
Here are some of the most popular expectations from the Dev Community for the upcoming HTML6:
Express Tags
HTML6 is likely to facilitate the developers with express tags. You can use <logo></logo> for assigning a logo to the webpage. Similarly, <sidebar></sidebar> and <navigation></navigation> tags will integrate sidebar and navigation respectively.
Also, the <div> tag could be used without using multiple ID’s. For example you can simply use <container> or <wrapper> instead of writing <div id=’container’> and <div id=’wrapper’>.
XML-like namespaces
It is expected that HTML6 will come with namespaces of the XML-like structure. Such namespaces will help developers use the same tag without any conflict with another tag. In other words, HTML6 will offer the advantage of using the desired tags in addition to the defined tags.
HTML6 Document
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html:html>
<html:head>
<html:title>A Look Into HTML6</html:title>
<html:meta type="title" value="Page Title">
<html:meta type="description" value="HTML example with namespaces">
<html:link src="css/mainfile.css" title="Styles" type="text/css">
<html:link src="js/mainfile.js" title="Script" type="text/javascript">
</html:head>
<html:body>
<header>
<logo>
<html:media type="image" src="images/xyz.png">
</logo>
<nav>
<html:a href="/img1">a1</a>
<html:a href="/img2">a2</a>
</nav>
</header>
<content>
<article>
<h1>Heading of main article</h1>
<h2>Sub-heading of main article</h2>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>[...]</p>
</article>
<article>
<h1>The concept of HTML6</h1>
<h2>Understanding the basics</h2>
<p>[...]</p>
</article>
</content>
<footer>
<copyright>This site is © to Anonymous 2017</copyright>
</footer>
</html:body>
</html:html>
In this document, we have some odd <html: x> tags. They are the namespaced elements belong to W3C and HTML6 spec and are useful for triggering browser events. For example, the <html: title> will change the title bar of the browser and the <html: media> will help the defined image appear on the browser screen. These elements have nothing to do with the browser. They can enable the developers to make sample code more semantic.
Additional video object control
HTML6 is going to offer more control over the video object to improve the video experience for the users. Though the developers cannot get rid of the compression codec, they can adjust it with different compression algorithms.
More control over painting video frames on a page is expected along with better callback hooks and sync mechanisms. We can also expect the ability to mix DOM with video in the upcoming HTML version.
<! – Simple video example --> <video src="videofile.webm" autoplay poster="posterimage.jpg"> Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos, but don't worry you can <a href="videofile.webm">download it</a> and watch it with your favorite video player! </video> <! – Video with subtitles --> <video src="foo.webm"> <track kind="subtitles" src="foo.en.vtt" srclang="en" label="English"> <track kind="subtitles" src= "foo.sv.vtt" srclang="sv" label="Svenska"> </video>
Dedicated and rich libraries
JQuery has transformed the world of JavaScript with regard to standard libraries. The next standard of HTML could come up with guaranteed libraries distributed with the browser. It would save more time while refreshing the cached version of jQuery 1.9. In other words, the cacheable version of libraries is about to come. If many designers use a specific library, it could be distributed with the browser in a new HTML6 version.
Improved annotation
Annotation should not confine to the comment sections at the base of articles. A standard structure can add annotations for paragraphs, sentences, and words. Even images and moments inside video can also be annotated in a sophisticated version. Standardization of the API allows all websites and browsers to treat basic annotations in the same way. Improved annotation options are awaited by the developer community.
Camera integration
The camera plays a vital role in our interactions at home and the office. HTML6 is expected to allow all media content on our devices in many ways. It could offer more control over the camera across the browser, forms, or other systems. The image capturing, on-the-fly filtering, camera effects are some of the aspects that can be addressed. Another possibility is to allow multiple formats for both video and photography while facilitating panoramic image and HDR creation.
Tougher authentication
The browser could offer more when it comes to authentication. For example, instead of using cookies, the browser could offer to sign tokens with embedded keys that can be stored in hardened chips. It prevents people (read: hackers) from gaining access through the secret key. API could be added to the browser to enable websites for requesting better digital signatures. In a way, authentication could become stronger for enhancing security.
Microformats
Common details like parts of an address or a phone number can be specified using a standard way called microformats in HTML6. We could get a speedy response from Web crawlers and search engines with a standard set of tags. Developers can use more comprehensive markups for locations, dates, times, bibliographies, and all forms of standard data for creating detailed information. We can also expect country-specific phone codes. Developers also seek flexibility in changing the date format. Right now, it is by-default set with that of the US. In a way, microformats would become stronger and flexible in HTML6.
Pre-processors
Pluggable pre-processors could be integrated into HTML6 for converting languages into JavaScript. Today, Lisp, Python, Ruby, Erlang, Scala, and many other languages can be compiled into JavaScript, and the upcoming HTML version can bring a pre-processor for serving this objective. When any one of these languages is cross-compiled into JavaScript, it produces a smaller version that could be readily piped over the Internet. HTML5 is a general version of JavaScript that makes the code optimization harder for the local machine.
Pluggable languages
We cannot rule out the arrival of a pluggable set of languages with the upcoming version of HTML. It would increase the flexibility while offering more design choices for the developers. Though JavaScript could continue on a broad basis, specialized extensions with a specialized language could come up in the future. Developers also want HTML tags that can generate a bunch of codes to meet demands.
Automated Browser-sizing of imagery
The appearance of an image depends on various aspects like the type of devices and size of the window. The standard <img> tag of HTML has only one SRC that can trouble the browser while displaying an image. However, a better HTML protocol could suggest a desired width or height for an image, and the server could deliver the optimal resolution. In a way, browser-sizing of imagery is about to come in HTML6.
Secured access to contact information
People or visitors often want to get an email address or a contact number for the database of their devices. Right now, they can do so with cut-and-paste. It is expected that JavaScript will save people from this cutting and pasting in the new version of HTML6. In the mobile devices, the interface could offer a guarded access for contact information to people.
Conclusion
That’s not all. Developers want that HTML6 should make form validation customizable. Right now, it comes by default and non-changeable. Furthermore, in the mobile-driven world, the upcoming HTML version could give a location-tracking facility using GPS in a mobile browser. Some other feature ideas include Bluetooth support, built-in malware protection, and ability to transfer files from peer to peer, etc. are also in the pipeline for the upcoming HTML6.
The stage is set for HTML6. Let’s wait till the latest version comes that can bring the radical change in the web development process.
Happy Web Developing!
How is ‘Express Tags’ a new feature when I can already do this? I do it daily. Sure I have to declare a display: block if I want them to behave like a div, but I can use anything I want for the tag name.
What I would really like is to not have to type display: inline-block so much when it is so very useful. Somebody tell the devs to give us a ‘bspan’ tag that is exactly the same as div or span but defaults to display: inline-block.