Is it to soon to start using HTML 5?

[yanchuchi]

There is a basic validator but as HTML 5 is still being tweaked (i think thats what i read), is there any point in using it yet.
Thanks in advance?
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[lyosha]

It's safe to use most of the things in common with HTML 4 and 5 and use the HTML 5 doctype (since all your browser cares about is that there is one and it's not one of the old ones like HTML 3.2. There's a list somewhere with more details). You can take a look at the spec to see which are parts are mature and which still are being worked on. I personally use the HTML 5 doctype, sectioning elements, and Web Forms 2.0. The latter two require a few javascript frameworks to work in all browsers though. The sectioning elements work with a small script I made myself: http://fikshtml.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/fikshtml/ and for Web Forms 2.0, I haven't decided which framework to use yet so I won't recommend any particular one.

[Jarvklo]

Is HTML5 too early to use?

IMHO - as a web professional working for clients with high expectations on compatibility back to IE6 - I'd unfortunately have to say definately too early!
I see no gain for me or my company coming from forcing bleeding edge stuff on a client that pays for my time.

Personally however I'd very much like for some of the new features of HTML5 to be ready for browser independent use, but we're just not there yet.

So IMHO your safest option if you want to start using HTML5 is basically to restrict yourself to using HTML4 features and then slap an HTML5 doctype on it - a practice I basically see no real benefits of at this point in time.

Hixie, by the way, had some interesting things to say about this subject recently in http://standardssuck.org/ian-hickson-on-editing-html5 (about a minute or so into the video). Check it out and judge for yourself

[lyosha]

One HTML 5 feature that many people have been using before HTML 5 was even dreamed up is the autocomplete attribute. Pretty much, you can use any feature that is already supported by browsers and some other features with backup javascript.

For example: Some people use something like <input type="text" class="datepicker"> and then use some javascript to get all the inputs with the class "datepicker" to make it have a calendar datepicker widget. You can do the same thing using <input type="date"> and have the same javascript pick the inputs by type rather than class for browsers not supporting HTML 5. Either way you get the same result, plus native support for browsers which support HTML 5.

Also, using the HTML 5 doctype is easier than the HTML 4 doctype and doesn't make a difference for the browser at all (the html will be parsed and rendered identically).

Main thing is, as with HTML 4, you have to be careful and think everything out thoroughly, how you implement it in your web app. IE6 doesn't fully support HTML 4, so you have to compensate for that. Same thing with HTML 5. You need to have a backfall. In other words, you have to keep doing the same thing you did with HTML 4. IE6, for example, is NOT ready for HTML 4, yet we still use a subset of HTML 4 in IE, and compensate with javascript, hacks, etc. for the parts of HTML 4 that IE6 doesn't support. Same exact thing will need to be done with HTML 5.

[Ritz]

I think that using the new HTML doctype is worth going for. Using new elements like <section>, <header>, <nav>, and <footer> instead of <div id="section1">, <div id="header1">, <div id="nav"> and <div id="footer"> is worth it too.

In IE (as far back as 6) you can use the document.createElement("someElement"); JS instruction to make sure that you can style the elements with CSS. The other modern browsers will let you style the new elements the same way you can adjust <div> with CSS already. Sure, these new elements are meaningless right now, but so are <div>s. Future browsers will be able to recognize the semantic meaning behind the new elements while <div> will remain meaningless.

The other new elements? Well, save that for your personal website experiments until you are convinced you know how you can add value to a client's site using them.

...The thing is, I think IE 6 will still be around (let alone other browsers that don't yet support the new elements) by the time HTML 5 is a recommendation. So you should at least get some practice with working around and with HTML 5 and incomplete browser support now, so you don't have to later (when a client demands an HTML 5 website).

[EDIT] (I do this edit thing lots)

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/186264/is-it-time-to-start-using-html5 describes the current situation from another perspective. So, despite my idea of using the new semantic elements, perhaps you should wait to see how UA's implement the new elements. Canvas is ok, though.

[Tom Duhamel]

Personally in my later projects I have started to use *some* HTML 5, but I have my page validate as both HTML 4 and 5.

I use the new doctype style, which is fully backward compatible and interpreted correctly by all browsers, including IE 6.

I have started to use the new <input> types, such as email and date, but without any JavaScript or anything.

<input type='email'>

Since the new 'email' type is not recognized, current browsers simply assume type='text', as expected, which is perfectly fine, since it's what I would have used if HTML 5 didn't exist. My page works now, and will work even better when browsers start recognizing the new type.

I have started to avoid any elements and attributes deprecated by HTML 5.

I have not yet started using the new elements such as <section>, <header> etc