Future of HTML

[cokeefe]

Hi,
I'm new to IT and have a minimal background in HTML. For a class I have to do a paper on the future of something in web design and development.

I have chosen HTML.

My question:

Does HTML even have a future? It seems more complex languages that offer more interactivity are evolving out of it.

There aren't even any books on the future of html and I am still doing searches for articles or white papers on this subject, but so far...zippo.

Maybe I should pick another topic?

Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks

[JAB Creations]

You might as well ask if humans will stop drinking water in the next ten thousand years. You can't have the world wide web without HTML. You could try to replace everything with plugins such as Flash or Java though they aren't as easy to work with both from the creation/maintenance aspects. Then there are search engines, they can look at Flash objects though Flash is best used as an enhancement where standards fail such as HTML5 video due to the MPEG-LA patent trolls. There is a lot of context when it comes to communication, HTML is the best way to describe that context so humans and search spiders (that look for content for humans so you can find it on a search engine) can all ultimately benefit from increasingly accurate information and naturally understand the context in which it's presented.

[zcorpan]

I think you've chosen an excellent topic. HTML certainly has a future. I guess most books on modern HTML are focusing on the present or "cutting edge" features, not future features, but I think that's good to have covered as well. Search for "html5" on amazon, there should be several great books among the top hits. http://diveintohtml5.org/ is a free online book (called "HTML5: Up and running" on amazon) worth reading.

As for future features, check http://www.w3.org/wiki/HTML/next

Also http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/cu ... troduction is worth reading

You can pop in on #whatwg if you want to chat about the topic.

[cokeefe]

Thank you both for your information and responses. Very helpful. Hopefully my report will broaden my knowledge.

Thanks,
cokeefe

[bennyliu]

This article is the objective attitude towards the development of html5, it is worth of reading!
http://bennyliu.hubpages.com/hub/Far-aw ... y-using-it

[bennyliu]

HTML5 certainly has the future, but encounters with problems. It is effective for work, for example, I can draw on web with javaccript, flash and silverlight are no longer needed, nor any plugins. Some of its new tags are exciting, such as <canvas>.
The problem is there is no one unified support of html5 among the browsers, different browser has different support, that is the main obstacle for the development of html5.