Considering becoming an HTML5 developer? HTML5 is considered as a ‘Great Leap Forward’ for the companies as well as the developers. It has given the web developers a number of new tags like <footer>, <header> and <nav>. Apart from that, it has also given smooth-running and modern JavaScript APIs like local storage, geolocation and drag and drop. Companies like FindNerd , have utilized HTML5 to transform the web presence and modern day businesses. Right from your smart phones to current web browser, HTML5 is everywhere.
In this article, I have penned down a few tips that will assist you to become a modern day, highly professional html developer. These include:
Being an HTML5 Developer – Uniqueness and Understanding
Let us begin with a very strong statement “Do something different and understand what is important.” Unless and until your website offers an attractive functionality, you are not getting any attention. Take time out to go through a number of development guides to understand the latest trend and pay attention to the recommendations made by experienced html programmers and mobile platform vendors. Besides, you can make use of a number of html5 development tools that are available online to achieve ultimate precision in your approach.
Use web storage in place of cookies
Cookies, no matter how useful in tracking user data, have serious drawbacks to consider. Cookie data frequently adds itself to the HTTP request header, thereby making an immense impact on the user response time. Reducing the cookie size is the only option left. However, by using HTML5, a developer can perform much better than that. By making use of localStorage and sessionStorage, a developer can easily maintain user data on clientside indefinitely or for any length of the session. Every HTTP request is not responsible for the data transfer. Servers have an API that prevent cookies.
Format your content for mobile
Use of mobile devices for browsing the web is growing at a very fast pace. A study has revealed that ‘65 percent of emails are opened on mobile devices. Unfortunately, most websites are not optimized for mobile devices. Constraint by a varied display size, mobile devices require a distinctive approach towards how the content is displayed on the screen. Mobile devices comprise a multitude of varied screen sizes including tablets, game consoles, TVs, mobile phones, phablets, etc. With new technology and advancements, screen sizes will keep on changing. It is very much essential that your content easily adapts to any of the screen size. Your role as a developer is to create a highly responsive website that responds to the requirement of the users and their devices. Your content format should change according to the capabilities and size of the device. If your website has a proper responsive design, it doesn’t require zooming or scaling on any of the mobile devices, irrespective of screen size or capacity.
Profiling and Minifying HTML, CSS, Images & JavaScript
To understand the complex code, we tend to format it to make it look easier. Simply saying, we want to use more of a human friendly format.
Consider the sample code below:
<form action=”#” method=”post”>
<div>
<label for=”name”>Text Input:</label>
<input type=”text” name=”name” id=”name” value=”” tabindex=”1″ />
</div>
</form>
It is clearly visible that from the above example that a code with input and label element is surrounded by a div.
It is easy to read and is far more clearer than:
<form action=“#” method=“post”><div><label for=”name”>Text Input:</label>
The human friendly format is easier to read but contains a number of unusual characters. The above example might not look too catastrophic, however, If it was a complete website with thousands of lines of code, it would have surely jeopardised the website’s performance.
As an expert developer, you have to understand that the unnecessary use of characters including the comments, new line characters and white spaces can affect the code’s performance. By not using or removing these characters (if already used), you can reduce the code file size and the amount of data that is required to be downloaded from the browser. You can also optimize the Images. Rich and heavy images no doubt beautify your website but also decrease the website’s loading speed. For image optimization, you can decrease the color depth, change the image resolution, compress and crop the image.
Use cache manifest for live sites, not just offline apps
Hope you remember WordPress Turbo? WordPress used Google Gear to essentially cache a number of resources in the local admin panel to boost the file access. Working as an HTML 5 Developer, you can easily replicate similar behaviour with HTML5 Application Cache.
The app cache boasts of a modest advantage over the Expires headers setting. As you are making a high level programming file indicating cacheable static resources, the browsers will optimize that quickly, conceivably precaching them even before your use. With the App Cache, you can treat your HTML as a series of templates. Consider caching via cache.manifest to deliver JSON for content updation over the wire. This methodology is very much identical to an Android or an iPhone native news app.
Are you a developer using HTML5? I hope that you have understood the few things that are required to keep in mind while working on html code for website design. What other tips should you keep in mind while developing a website? Let us know in the comments section below.
If you need help with web design, contact Web Design Just For You for help.
Author Bio:
Ankur Kumar is an experienced blogger and content manager. He likes to write on various topics including technology, digital marketing and environment. He is an active member of FindNerd, a collaborative online project management tools platform & a social tech community. An avid biker, traveller, motivator problem solver and nature lover. He is straight forward in his approach and believes in minimalist lifestyle.
Content Disclaimer: This article was authored by the writer/author indicated above in his/her personal capacity. The opinions and views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view or opinions of Web Design Just for You, or Eileen Forte.
