

WebGL and HTML5 Challenges For The Future - tbassetto
http://codeflow.org/entries/2011/sep/11/webgl-and-html5-challenges-for-the-future/

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travisglines
My main concern here is that Adobe's new flash plugin will allow some of these
things for 3d on the web and set back adoption of WebGL to the point that it's
also DOA.

I know mouse capture seems like a security concern to many browser vendors,
but just have a dialogue to agree to mouse capture and a clear use of ESC to
exit it. If they don't do it, some plugin will and we'll be set back into
another X years of flash dominance in online gaming again.

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nkassis
It's a risk but at the same time Adobe has a lot of the same issues to fix as
what webgl has. It's not going to be easy for either solution to make a dent
in the adoption of the 3D web. Some of the biggest problems with WebGL and
Flash will be drivers, security and prevention of abuse.

At least with WebGL you have multiple groups working on solving the major
issues. I don't see Flash fixing these things alone.

There also Silverlight that will come out with their own solution but like
with Flash I don't see it as an easy win over WebGL.

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jerf
"At least with WebGL you have multiple groups working on solving the major
issues."

I'm not sure this falls under the "advantage" column in this scenario. Number
of "groups" doesn't count for anywhere near as much as "number of people", and
there's no particular reason Adobe can't field as many people on their one
side as the other interested groups can in total, unless one of those groups
_really_ commits. Having a lot of big names on the list doesn't guarantee than
any given name has more than "a guy we told to subscribe to the mailing list
and scream if somebody proposes something that doesn't serve our interests".
(That's by way of example. I know there is non-zero real commitment, my point
is that it isn't at all the case that this group _must_ outweight Adobe's
ability to solve the problem.)

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cageface
I really don't understand this obsession with shoving _everything_ into the
browser. In native applications 3d graphics are great for games and certain
scientific applications but camera control issues etc make them too awkward
and confusing for almost anything else.

The UI demands of games seem to me to be strongly at odds with the UI needs of
just about every other kind of app. I wish all this effort was directed
instead at making HTML5 less painful for laying out information in an elegant
and straightforward way. CSS still leaves a lot to be desired in this respect.

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paul9290
Any front end coders here using HTML5 over using HTML?

What are the advantages of using <article> , <section> and <footer> vs. <div
id="footer>, per example?

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viscanti
The markup changes don't give any performance advantages, they just help to
standardize things. They aren't essential to HTML5 being useful. LocalStorage
is one of the big advantages. Canvas has some interesting uses, although still
needs work to be competitive. Video and Audio tags could be useful in the
future, if a consensus is ever reached about codecs.

Basically, you're asking the wrong question. Switching to HTML5 for markup
changes is silly. The power of HTML5 isn't in semantic changes, it's in
everything else.

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paul9290
Not sure why I was downvoted here?

I am mid-level front end coder (HTML/CSS & plug and play Jquery scripts) who
hasn't used HTML5 yet (i do use CSS3 often to design sites & code).

I've only glanced over the mark up and wondered why I would use that over what
I've been using past 2 years.

I know there are <video> and <audio> mark up tags that in some years will kill
the need to use flash. What are the other advantages - the everything else?

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nkassis
I think the down vote is mostly because the article is centred on WebGL and
nothing to do with the new mark-up elements in HTML5.

