8 Superlative Practices for Efficient HTML5 coding

HTML5 is definitely among the hits of year 2012 and this goes without a saying that HTML5 deserves to be a hit. The best thing about HTML5 is that it has made lives of developers/designers a lot easier because it is exciting to use and is easily understandable. If we look at the history of HTML, by far this has been the best thing introduced.

As far as front-end coding is concerned, HTML has quickly paved his way into the world of web development. Since it is the most ‘IN’ things, being a developer, you should definitely learn coding of HTML5 websites. But before you start with that, it is very important to understand the difference between CSS3 and HTML5 because there is a thin line when it comes to these two technological terms. Today, in this article we will discuss some of the best practices for proficient HTML5 coding and if you learn these practices well, I can assure that you will be able to produce some extra ordinary and quality websites.

8 Superlative Practices for efficient HTML5 coding

Following practices will prove to be really beneficial and helpful for all developers/designers.

1.   HTML5 Generators

All developers and designers tend to start from the scratch before developing a new website. They create a base template as per the requirements and this activity obviously takes up a lot of time. By using HTML5 generators, you will be saving a lot of time because thanks to these HTML5 generators, you won’t have to write an entire new code. The best thing about HTML5 generator is that it is not at all complicated and easy to use. Precisely, all you need to do is fill in a small form by mentioning your requirements. These two steps will create a HTML5 template for you as per your requirements and you can use the template instead of coding an entire new website.

Obviously, you will find a lot of variety of HTML5 generators but you can select the one which is suitable for your requirements. You will also find some readymade templates. You can go for whatever you are convenient with.

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2.   Proper Understanding of Doctype

In case you are not happy with the automatic coding and you place to code the website on your own, it is very important for you to understand the doctype of HTML5. Remember that changing tag of your doctype is not at all a solution for you. So before you make any decision or make changes, be sure that you understand the doctype well so that you don’t end up confused.

 

3.   Usage of a Cheat Sheet

We all know that technology world is constantly evolving so no need to panic if you are unable to remember the features due to frequent changes of HTML5. Yes, remembering all new features can be really difficult and in order to resolve this issue, you can always use cheat sheets and be thankful to InMotion hosting for creating these cheat sheets.

Usage of a Cheat Sheet

Click on Image For Enlarge View

The best thing about these cheat sheets is that they are broken into three different images for tags, event handler content attributes and browser support. Feel free to visit the following link to find those cheat sheets and get rid of all the confusing and forgetting part.

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4.   Backwards Compatibility Plans

All webkit browsers that are currently available support HTML5. If they don’t support all features, the good thing is that most of the features are supported. Another positive aspect about HTML5 is that it is designed with backwards compatibility plans which means you can easily go for degradation yourself in your browsers without having to consult professionals.

 

5.   Work Hard to avoid compatibility issues

You might have to face a few compatibility issues because even though HTML5 is a technology that has been recently introduced but always keep in mind that there will be a few features and specifications which have been introduced but are not functional. However, this should not be an issue because thanks to Can I Use.com you can easily find out which element is supported in the browser being used by you.  Not only this, you will be able to find compatibility charts for other important technological terms such as CSS3 and JavaScript on Can I Use.com so make sure you bookmark it as soon as possible especially if you are working on HTML5 coded websites.

 

6.   Responsible Usage of Elements

Responsible Usage of Elements

Before using any elements, it is very important for you to understand each element and its purpose. Let us take a look at the primary elements of HTML5 and learn what each element is proposed for.

–      <header> This is for the top part of any website.

–      <hgroup> Supports elements used within the <header> and keeps them intact.

–      <nav> Commonly used for navigation menu

–      <section> Helps you in gathering items of same theme at one place.

–      <article> For a self-sufficient text box.

–      <footer> Just like the header, this elements is for the footer area.

These were just a few basic elements and HTML5 has a lot more to offer.

 

7.   Enabling HTML5 on older IE

Enabling HTML5 on older IE

If I have to be honest, IE has always been a problematic browser for all designers and developers. IE8 and preceding versions do not support HTML5 at all. However, a new script has been introduced which will help you in enabling HTML5 on IE8 and versions introduced before that. All you need to do is enter the following code:

[code type=php]

<!–[if lt IE 9]>

<script src=”http://html5shim.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/html5.js”></script>

<![endif]–>
[/code]

 

8.   Code Validation

Code Validation

Once you are done with coding your website’s page using HTML5, it is very important for you to validate your code and the best way to do is through W3C validator. This is indeed a perfect tool to check your code’s quality and will let you know if there are any mistakes within your code for you to change them.

 

Conclusion:

The above mentioned practices will definitely help you in understanding HTML5 a lot better and you will be at ease using it.


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3 Comments

  1. justin says:

    HTML5’s support for mobile website designing is great. There are a number of HTML5 frameworks and tools available over Internet, with the help of which one can easily create an HTML5 based website.

  2. Awesome tips Thanks For sharing this 🙂

  3. We’ve also found HTML5 shim to be a great resource. http://code.google.com/p/html5shim/