blog html5 live review

Overview

I’m a huge fan of front-end web technologies. For me, adding movement and interactivity to what was once a static page created by a designer is one of the most rewarding parts of the development process. It’s the part where you get to bring the website to life! The HTML5 Live conference provided some thought-provoking insights from industry leaders about a variety of current and future web development trends.

Bruce Lawson (@brucel)

The first talk after the opening keynote was held by Bruce Lawson, a self-proclaimed evangelist of open web standards and a jobbing web developer at Opera. Bruce’s talk focused on an introduction to HTML5; what it can do, where you might use it and the benefits of using this technology. Delivered with a good dose of entertainment and a clear passion for web technologies, this talk was a great opener which set the tone for the rest of the day...

Due to the number of speakers and the time constraints involved, the day was then split into two “tracks”; architect and developer. This meant that depending on your interest and skill-set, you can choose which track to follow (or rather, which talks to attend).

Jake Archibald (@jaffathecake)

I attended a talk named “Reusable code, for good or for awesome!” given by Jake Archibald, a web developer at Lanyrd. With a background working on the BBC’s web team, Jake promoted the concept of scalable, reusable code. His examples centred around Javascript, which was used to build a carousel for displaying image and text content at various sizes and with varying options. Jake demonstrated that by thinking pro-actively about the project you are developing, you can avoid problems at a later date.

Ido Green (@greenido)

The next talk was held by Ido Green, speaking on behalf of the Google Chrome OS team. His talk centered around how Google’s Chrome Operating System is designed specifically to work with HTML5. The Chromebook (a laptop or netbook running ChromeOS) is designed purely for web usage, so it makes sense that the operating system can interact with web objects on a deeper level than Windows and MacOS (at least, those on the current market). Ido chose to talk about many features of HTML5 but I would have preferred him to have selected a few key features and explore them in greater detail.

Martin Beeby (@thebeebs)

Martin was talking on behalf of the Microsoft Internet Explorer development team. Internet Explorer has long been on the metaphorical hit list of the web developer after releasing browsers which were not supportive of web standards, making them difficult to develop websites for. After an ironic (and very funny) video to promote Internet Explorer 9, Martin was quick to admit that the company had made mistakes with its previous efforts but is now firmly back in the driving seat. And I must admit, after using the excellent IE10 BETA version, and seeing how Windows 8 plans to integrate web applications into the operating system (think Facebook notifications in your Start menu), it is clear that Microsoft are now doing everything they can to earn back their credibility.

Venue

The Barbican is a vast centre for arts, music, theatre and business. The venue plays host to a huge range of different event types, making it a perfect space for something like HTML5 Live. The actual conference room could have perhaps been signposted a little better, but the staff were very friendly and the complimentary food and drinks were great.

In Summary

The conference may have been predominantly about HTML5 but there was a running theme; innovation. This is fitting, as HTML5 is a relatively new and unexplored technology; so much so that few current browsers support more than it’s core functions. Each talk hinted at the future of the web, and the possibilities that lie ahead.

HTML5 offers a robust range of pretty exciting features, and as developers and designers, we look forward to seeing (and contributing to!) the future of the web.

Ido Green picture courtesy of Skills Matter