What do you think?
Rate this book
What is HTML 5?
Everyone's using it, nobody knows what it is. I realize that sounds more like a line out of an existential movie -- maybe Waiting for Godot or a screenplay by Sartre -- than a statement about HTML5. But it's really the most of the people using HTML5 are treating it as HTML4+, or even worse, HTML4 (and some stuff they don't use). The result? A real delay in the paradigm shift that HTML5 is almost certain to bring. It's certainly not time to look away, because by the time you look back, you may have missed something really a subtle but important transition centered around HTML5.
27 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 13, 2011
230 people are currently reading
587 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
December 17, 2011
Very short and generic. Much more of an article in a general audience magazine than an actual book. It should be looked at as an initial primer to HTML5 rather than a learning experience. You would do better with other books if you want to learn or learn about HTML5.
December 25, 2016
Cursory, however, informative
For those uninitiated or less experienced with markup, this acts as a good entry point. For those following HTML5 since the formative spec years, there's not much new here. My compliments to the author, however, as the content was found to be quite agreeable to my personal bias on the future of the web.
For those uninitiated or less experienced with markup, this acts as a good entry point. For those following HTML5 since the formative spec years, there's not much new here. My compliments to the author, however, as the content was found to be quite agreeable to my personal bias on the future of the web.
December 9, 2016
Nothing useful.
Too short for calling it a book! I did not find it useful. There is no must for free content to be useless.
Too short for calling it a book! I did not find it useful. There is no must for free content to be useless.
August 28, 2017
Nothing technical
I was looking for something with a bit more information and a bit less opinion. Will need to find another source. Perhaps a different media type.
I was looking for something with a bit more information and a bit less opinion. Will need to find another source. Perhaps a different media type.
August 10, 2018
This is not a book one reads. It's a reference book. An like all books from this publisher, it's well done.
April 30, 2019
Informative book
It wasn't too bad. I feel like it was a great exploration deeper into HTML 5. I enjoyed the read.
It wasn't too bad. I feel like it was a great exploration deeper into HTML 5. I enjoyed the read.
July 9, 2019
Not what I expected.
Thought I might get some insights into working with html 5 not how wonderful it was for java script. I do use java script but not as extensively as the author.
Thought I might get some insights into working with html 5 not how wonderful it was for java script. I do use java script but not as extensively as the author.
December 27, 2019
Nice little book
A quick read that explains html5. I appreciated how it all flowed together. Thank you so much for writing it
A quick read that explains html5. I appreciated how it all flowed together. Thank you so much for writing it
December 31, 2011
This was a freebie Kindle book that I read via my smartphone. I really wouldn't call it a "book" so much as an essay. Anyway, this was a little over my head. After finishing this book, I'm not entirely sure I understand what HTML5 is. I have some vague concept of how it works: it focuses not so much on web pages as creating an interconnected environment that web developers -- particularly programmers -- can develop applications that can cause all these different applications to play nice. It is also some kind of an alternative to Flash.
If you're a web developer that has serious problems with the above summarization, please feel free to rip it apart in the comments! (With corrections, of course!)
McLaughlin does link to content that sort of helps in my understanding. He linked to a entertaining video to illustrate the capabilities of HTML5. However, I'm not sure what role HTML5 plays that makes a discrete difference between a good job of video editing.
Maybe I was expecting too much enlightenment. Yeah, I'm certainly not advanced enough to follow the discussion fully. But, goshdarnit, if you're going to name a book What is HTML5?, I would expect it to be directed to a wider (dumber) audience.
One unexpected outcome of this read: McLaughlin referenced a couple of sci-fi novels that look promising. I've added these to my Goodreads "to read" shelves. The end result is that I loved one (Snow Crash) and absolutely hated the other (Neuromancer).
If you're a web developer that has serious problems with the above summarization, please feel free to rip it apart in the comments! (With corrections, of course!)
McLaughlin does link to content that sort of helps in my understanding. He linked to a entertaining video to illustrate the capabilities of HTML5. However, I'm not sure what role HTML5 plays that makes a discrete difference between a good job of video editing.
Maybe I was expecting too much enlightenment. Yeah, I'm certainly not advanced enough to follow the discussion fully. But, goshdarnit, if you're going to name a book What is HTML5?, I would expect it to be directed to a wider (dumber) audience.
One unexpected outcome of this read: McLaughlin referenced a couple of sci-fi novels that look promising. I've added these to my Goodreads "to read" shelves. The end result is that I loved one (Snow Crash) and absolutely hated the other (Neuromancer).
August 11, 2016
Free kindle ebook, so it's already a good deal. I give it three stars because the book is average. Not bad. Not great. If you want to learn the concepts behind HTML 5, this is a good book to read. It's short. To the point. I want to give it 4 stars, but that's a bit high. 3.5 would be more accurate.
This book doesn't get into the nitty gritty coding and programming, but you do need to have a knowledge of coding to understand the book.
A handful of good quotes from the book:
-------------
The winners in an HTML5 world are those who stop fearing being stolen from, and actually start handing out their candy to every kid on the block.
HTML has always been about interconnection.
Slap a Creative Commons license not just on your video, or your images, but on your HTML, and then build interesting components and assume they’ll be sucked into other things and used in ways you’d never considered. It is called the Internet, remember?
important is not that HTML5 works on phones. What’s important is that HTML5 “just works.”
HTML5 really removes the need to think about mobile devices separately from other devices
-------------
This book doesn't get into the nitty gritty coding and programming, but you do need to have a knowledge of coding to understand the book.
A handful of good quotes from the book:
-------------
The winners in an HTML5 world are those who stop fearing being stolen from, and actually start handing out their candy to every kid on the block.
HTML has always been about interconnection.
Slap a Creative Commons license not just on your video, or your images, but on your HTML, and then build interesting components and assume they’ll be sucked into other things and used in ways you’d never considered. It is called the Internet, remember?
important is not that HTML5 works on phones. What’s important is that HTML5 “just works.”
HTML5 really removes the need to think about mobile devices separately from other devices
-------------
January 23, 2013
This short e-book contains a top-down view of HTML5. Often technical books, blogs, articles, and documentation focuses on features, techniques, and syntax. This book focused more on the entire web as a petri dish of technological activity. Design and architectural considerations were given less to how to develop with HTML5, and more about how and why HTML5 was developed. Some unique features were discussed, such as canvas and multimedia. Although these features were explained from a strategic vantage point, rather than as a how-to for a tactical implementation. This free book is great supplemental knowledge.
November 2, 2011
I really enjoyed this. It was just what I needed. I knew HTML5 was critical for web accessibility and designing programs for mobile devices, but I didn't know much more than that. This put it in the context of the evolution of HTML over time, the long term vision, and useful ways to use it, as well as suggestions for best practices and what not to do. With the addition or with and humor, it was a light easy read.
January 15, 2012
This book is a short read, and free, so I don't have any complaints. But after reading the other reviews, I do realize it is targeted to a specific audience. I think the people that will get the most benefit from this book are those who are familiar with history of HTML and have little prior knowledge of HTML5. If you are familiar with the drawbacks and shortcomings of older HTML versions, especially band-aid solutions, this synopsis of what HTML5 can do is very motivating.
April 22, 2015
My Review is probably not fair to the book.
It would be a great introduction if I was non-technical and looking in from the outside.
However as someone who just wanted to get a more technical introduction, I felt it was lacking. I glossed over the last parts of the book just to have it crossed off my list.
If you are looking for a super short almost blog introduction, this could be the one.
It was very cheap on amazon so it was value for money...just not value for what I wanted.
It would be a great introduction if I was non-technical and looking in from the outside.
However as someone who just wanted to get a more technical introduction, I felt it was lacking. I glossed over the last parts of the book just to have it crossed off my list.
If you are looking for a super short almost blog introduction, this could be the one.
It was very cheap on amazon so it was value for money...just not value for what I wanted.
September 22, 2011
Very short read. Didn't help me get any closer to doing and coding, but is a good primer to get me in the right mindset when thinking about HTML5. I don't think I would recommend this book to anyone.
June 4, 2012
This is a short book that is essentially a sales pitch for HTML5 and provides a good overview for somebody that is wanting a high level overview of what HTML5 is about, but not detail as to how to do anything. It focuses on the "what" not the "how".
January 26, 2016
As others have stated, this was a free Kindle ebook, so I downloaded it. It was an overview of HTML5 and focused a lot on semantic markups. It was okay, but I feel I have read more interesting articles on HTML5, than what was in this ebook/article.
January 27, 2014
This was a free Amazon kindle book that I would describe as a white paper. If you don't know anything about HTML5 and are looking for a quick overview, I'd recommend this. However, it doesn't go into a lot of details and you'll be looking for something else to follow it up with.
September 28, 2014
Even though this book was free on Kindle, I downloaded it hoping to gain more insight into HTMLL5 and was very disappointed. Since then, I have learned more from free articles on the Internet than I gained from my time reading this book. I agree with other reviewers that it is more of an essay.
August 5, 2019
I've referenced this short guide a couple times. It's kind of a nice introduction to what HTML5 is. But it probably will get dated fairly fast, and I'm sure I won't reference it again after I've used HTML5 for awhile.
Two stars.
Two stars.
July 12, 2012
Brief and to the point sales pitch for HTML 5
September 1, 2012
A nice general idea of what HTML 5 is all about.
October 9, 2012
A nice and short read to introduce differences between legacy HTML standards and new one (HTML 5). Nice catch-up.
July 5, 2015
Good basic introduction to HTML 5 and its JavaScript APIs.
May 31, 2013
a basic overview of HTML5, no technical terms. Neither good nor bad.
December 17, 2014
thank you
January 3, 2016
Like unfinished
Only some concepts without detailed info.
You can only know some simple idea of Html5.
Not recommended for serious study.
Only some concepts without detailed info.
You can only know some simple idea of Html5.
Not recommended for serious study.
August 26, 2016
As someone interested purely at a surface level, found this useful; occasionally dry, occasionally unspecific.
September 1, 2016
Good book
This is really a good book for the starters the elements are explained precisely. It helped me to quickly go through the topics when I required.
This is really a good book for the starters the elements are explained precisely. It helped me to quickly go through the topics when I required.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews