The road leading to now
It certainly has been a long way since the conception of the web and web technologies. Everything has undergone such drastic change in the last 10-15 years that even their inventors probably wouldn't recognize them.
The unofficial first version of the Web - Web 1.0, The pilot version of the Web - of course paved the way for the technical maturity of web technologies. The hard work and perseverance of some of this century's most brilliant minds.
However Web 1.0 was fraught with inconsistencies. Being birth out of necessity and hastiness to deliver, many versions of it were published by entities around the globe.
Until now web standards setting have been controlled by the few with power and influence.
However, ironically, with the widespread adoption of the Web, the power is now dispersed amongst the committees of the best and the brightest from major corporations as well as many non-affiliated yet influential individuals. W3C is one of these committees.
Web 2.0 - The browser is aware
After a lot of hard work comprising of many of the recent years, a mature standard has emerged. Adoption of this standard is still on-going and comprises of several endeavors each playing a part in the whole of the global standard.
Web 2.0 (pronounced "wehb too point oh") however is not the result of an evolution of technologies and concepts. It is not the introduction of HTML5 and ES5 (soon to be ES6). It is not the maturity of server-side technologies like that supplement the request-response model.
In my opinion, Web 2.0 is the result of evolution of a delivery process.
Web 2.0 is a delivery platform which delivers rich, multi-type media and highly functional content to a variety of devices.
Technologically, the introduction of HTML5, ECMA Script 5, XHR2.0, CSS3 and some other technologies have been milestones in the realization of Web 2.0. However the true realization of Web 2.0 lies in the extending of capabilities and filling of holes which were previously done by 3rd party libraries.
Extension of capabilities by providing new tags, selectors and elements which actually mean something to the browser rather than just gray javascript code.
The browser understands now
When <header> , <footer> and some other seemingly trivial tags were introduced in HTML5, people scoffed... I did too. I wondered what was the point of coming up with a new spec and highlighting new tags like <nav>.
It took a while but I realized that these tags have semantic importance to the browser. If a scrolls down the <article>, the browser can choose to float/fix the <header> as you go.
Introduction of semantically significant tags and elements are key to expanding what the browser understands about your web page. For more info, see [1]
When you animate a div to expand it's dimensions, you probably want to move everything else out of the way. Previously you ended up doing this yourself, either literally or through 3rd Party libraries most popular of which is jQuery .
But the point is, this is something the browser should know about and do for you. When you change the layout of your page, you really want the browser to know about it.
Now through a wide arsenal of css3 additions, the browser can manage these changes for you and act accordingly. [2]
The browser understands now..
The road forward
Earlier I mentioned technical maturity. Although we are reaching a major milestone in the progression of web technologies, the developer mindset to adopt these new standards is not yet mature enough.
The modern web developer has to be aware of the rapid changes and emerging standards.
The pragmatic programmer learns from the past, acts in the present and is aware of the future.
Many major browser vendors have taken drastic steps to ensure they are up-to-date with the latest standards and also to make sure they are not held back by out dated technologies.
The web has changed and will continue to change our lives for a long time.
We are fortunate to be a part of these times.
Web 2.0 - The browser is aware
Web 3.0 - The browser is aware about YOU
With limited adoption of Web 2.0 standards still, Web 3.0 is far from being standardized.
However the focus of Web 3.0 will be personalized, localized, context-aware content presented just for you. [3]
Google, Amazon and many others have already made giant breakthroughs in these fields so expect big things in the not-so-far future...
Citations
1. HTML5 sematics - HTML5 Semantics | Smashing Coding
2. CSS3 overview - Presentation - HTML5 Rocks
3. Web 3.0 - HowStuffWorks "How Web 3.0 Will Work"
Image source: Wikimedia
It certainly has been a long way since the conception of the web and web technologies. Everything has undergone such drastic change in the last 10-15 years that even their inventors probably wouldn't recognize them.
The unofficial first version of the Web - Web 1.0, The pilot version of the Web - of course paved the way for the technical maturity of web technologies. The hard work and perseverance of some of this century's most brilliant minds.
However Web 1.0 was fraught with inconsistencies. Being birth out of necessity and hastiness to deliver, many versions of it were published by entities around the globe.
Until now web standards setting have been controlled by the few with power and influence.
However, ironically, with the widespread adoption of the Web, the power is now dispersed amongst the committees of the best and the brightest from major corporations as well as many non-affiliated yet influential individuals. W3C is one of these committees.
Web 2.0 - The browser is aware
After a lot of hard work comprising of many of the recent years, a mature standard has emerged. Adoption of this standard is still on-going and comprises of several endeavors each playing a part in the whole of the global standard.
Web 2.0 (pronounced "wehb too point oh") however is not the result of an evolution of technologies and concepts. It is not the introduction of HTML5 and ES5 (soon to be ES6). It is not the maturity of server-side technologies like that supplement the request-response model.
In my opinion, Web 2.0 is the result of evolution of a delivery process.
Web 2.0 is a delivery platform which delivers rich, multi-type media and highly functional content to a variety of devices.
Technologically, the introduction of HTML5, ECMA Script 5, XHR2.0, CSS3 and some other technologies have been milestones in the realization of Web 2.0. However the true realization of Web 2.0 lies in the extending of capabilities and filling of holes which were previously done by 3rd party libraries.
Extension of capabilities by providing new tags, selectors and elements which actually mean something to the browser rather than just gray javascript code.
The browser understands now
When <header> , <footer> and some other seemingly trivial tags were introduced in HTML5, people scoffed... I did too. I wondered what was the point of coming up with a new spec and highlighting new tags like <nav>.
It took a while but I realized that these tags have semantic importance to the browser. If a scrolls down the <article>, the browser can choose to float/fix the <header> as you go.
Introduction of semantically significant tags and elements are key to expanding what the browser understands about your web page. For more info, see [1]
When you animate a div to expand it's dimensions, you probably want to move everything else out of the way. Previously you ended up doing this yourself, either literally or through 3rd Party libraries most popular of which is jQuery .
But the point is, this is something the browser should know about and do for you. When you change the layout of your page, you really want the browser to know about it.
Now through a wide arsenal of css3 additions, the browser can manage these changes for you and act accordingly. [2]
The browser understands now..
The road forward
Earlier I mentioned technical maturity. Although we are reaching a major milestone in the progression of web technologies, the developer mindset to adopt these new standards is not yet mature enough.
The modern web developer has to be aware of the rapid changes and emerging standards.
The pragmatic programmer learns from the past, acts in the present and is aware of the future.
Many major browser vendors have taken drastic steps to ensure they are up-to-date with the latest standards and also to make sure they are not held back by out dated technologies.
The web has changed and will continue to change our lives for a long time.
We are fortunate to be a part of these times.
Web 2.0 - The browser is aware
Web 3.0 - The browser is aware about YOU
With limited adoption of Web 2.0 standards still, Web 3.0 is far from being standardized.
However the focus of Web 3.0 will be personalized, localized, context-aware content presented just for you. [3]
Google, Amazon and many others have already made giant breakthroughs in these fields so expect big things in the not-so-far future...
I've hidden 3 CSS jewels in this page somewhere. The first person to find and comment on them will receive a special mention in my next post . Happy hunting !
Citations
1. HTML5 sematics - HTML5 Semantics | Smashing Coding
2. CSS3 overview - Presentation - HTML5 Rocks
3. Web 3.0 - HowStuffWorks "How Web 3.0 Will Work"
Image source: Wikimedia
1. the effect in the "the developer muse"
ReplyDelete2. the background of the image
3. the shadow effect of the bordering
4. the drop down menu of "my links"
5. maybe the style used in the etc..
ReplyDelete1. The hover effect on "The Developer Muses".
ReplyDelete2. The hover effect on the word jQuery.
3. The hover effect on the menu titled "My Links".