The app vs web page battle rages, yet the future belongs to HTML 5. Not only is HTML 5 mobile friendly, it also helps businesses create better engagement.
A web browser displays HTML, PHP and other scripting languages on your computer in a way a person can understand so they are not looking at a bunch of code. Back when browsers were still young, they were hardly good enough to display HTML properly. Today’s web browsers are capable of much more than showing simple text and images. Today’s browsers can display and execute complex code (such as HTML 5) and even run applications within the browser (Facebook is a case in point). With the power of HTML 5, modern web browsers are capable of running apps within the browser with no additional support either from hardware or from the compiler. The days of a simple web page are gone; the app vs web battle was over before it had even begun.
Web apps have gained popularity more quickly than anticipated. In fact, Gartner’s analysts have already predicted that actionable data and HTML 5 will dominate 2013, ending the app vs web war. The reason web apps are slated to dominate 2013 is due mainly to advances in HTML 5, which also serves mobile platforms. In fact, most mobile app developers are ready to bet on HTML 5 in 2013, clearly making a case for this powerful coding language.
HTML 5 combined with Java makes for a perfect platform for Chrome (the Google Web Browser). Google even went on to show the power of HTML 5 and Java inside Chrome by developing a free app called ‘Jam’. The app is so cool that most developers find it hard to believe it’s coded in HTML.
So what’s the big deal about HTML 5?
HTML 5 adds new functionalities and features to the web, making it more interactive and modern. With HTML 5, developers can do what wasn’t possible before it. Rendering video and audio within a page using only the markup language was not possible and developers had to use other means such as Flash (an SEO nightmare). With HTML 5, developers can develop and run games using HTML 5 in a web browser. With such functionality, the choice between an app vs web page is a no brainer.
HTML 5 also makes things easy when it comes down to forms, the core of any business website. Before HTML 5, developers had to work exclusively on forms to make them fit into the rest of the website. However, the latest iteration of HTML makes it easy to design modern forms, the kind that can truly reflect a brand personality and a modern approach to the web.
Coding in an app vs web page may have been a topic of discussion a couple of years back, but no longer. Today, the modern web has HTML 5. Whereas simple web pages can do little more than display text and images, today’s web sites are capable of executing almost everything. Businesses should rejoice; customer engagement using the functionality and features of HTML 5 is and will continue to be on the rise!
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