HTML Vs. HTML5 In Web Development

In this technologically dominant world, web development is a significant part of online surfing and user interactivity. Hence, understanding web development is a basic need in the tech industry. HTML, also known as Hyper Text Markup Language, is the fundamental language of web development. It forms the backbone of your website and web pages on the entire internet.

It offers enhanced features and possibilities. In this article, we will clarify the major differences between the traditional older versions of HTML and the newer version of HTML5. Read the complete article to get a better understanding of the topic.

Table of Contents

What Is HTML?

Hypertext Markup Language is the fundamental building block of the World Wide Web. It serves as the markup language for creating different web pages and applications. It provides a structured framework for designing content on the internet with the help of headings, paragraphs, links, images, and other multimedia elements. It uses tags and attributes to format text and multimedia documents to create hyperlinks and accurately display the web page’s content.

It is the backbone of web development, which allows developers to structure the information in a proper format. It forms the basis for Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and Javascript while making interactive web pages online.

Recommended Course

History of HTML

HTML was developed by Sir Tim Berneris Lee when he was working at CERN, a European organization for nuclear research. The first version of HTML was named HTML 1.0. In the year 1995, HTML 2.0 was released. It was just a simple, improved version of HTML 1.0. As the internet gained popularity, HTML also underwent significant advancements. HTML 3.2, HTML 4.01, and XHTML brought significant advancements in multimedia, support, scripting, and document structure.

With the release of HTML 4 in 1997, there was a whole set of new tags, stylesheets, frames, scripts, embedded objects, tables, and much more in an improved and accessible way.

However, HTML’s most revolutionary transformation came with HTML5. It introduced multimedia elements without the need for plugins and enhanced semantic capabilities. This version facilitated the creation of modern and multimedia-rich experiences by matching today’s needs.

Structure of HTML

HTML documents is enclosed under the <HTML></HTML> tags. It contains <head>,<title>, <body>, and tags. The basic structure of HTML is given here in the table.

Structure of HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<head>

<title>

</title>

</head>

<body>

</body>

</html>

What is HTML5?

HTML 5 is the newer version of the Hyper Text Markup Language. HTML5 brought many significant advancements in web development. It introduced new elements and attributes that better support embedding audio, video, documents, and dynamic graphs directly into the web pages. HTML5 improved the semantic structure, which will help Google understand and interpret the content easily.

Furthermore, it also introduced features for offline web applications, local storage, and enhanced forms to create a better user experience. With the help of HTML5, we can make our website more interactive, modern, and responsive across various devices and platforms.

Structure of HTML5

<!DOCTYPE html>

<head>

</head>

<body>

<section>It is advanced HTML<section>

<section>Supports multimedia features<section>

</body>

</html>

HTML Vs. HTML5 Comparison

Let us now check some significant differences between the traditional older version of HTML and the new HTML5.

Difference Between HTML And HTML5
HTML	HTML5
HTML is an older and less flexible version.	HTML5 is the latest version of the Hyper Text Markup Langauge.
It does not support audio and video embedding.	It supports native audio and video embedding in documents.
Temporary data was stored with the help of cookies	It uses a database connected to the current webpage to store the data.
It runs properly on all devices and old browsers, such as Chrome, Mozilla, etc.	It also runs smoothly on all new browsers and versions, such as Chrome version 61.
HTML supports vector graphics such as Adobe Flash, VML, Silver Light, etc.	Vector graphics are supported by HTML5 by default.
Creating some geometrical shapes like rectangles, circles, and triangles in HTML is not easy.	We can now draw these shapes easily in HTML5.
It does not support capturing the user’s location features.	It can also identify user locations with the help of geolocation APIs.
There are no drag-and-drop features in HTML	There are drag-and-drop features in HTML5.
There are no specific tags for audio and video.	There are specific tags for audio and videos, like <Audio> and <Video>
It is not responsive on all devices.	It is responsible for all devices and provides a user-friendly interface.
Javascript is not allowed to run directly on browsers.	Javascript can run on HTML5 directly with the help of JS Web Worker API.

Advantages of Using HTML5

HTML5 is the latest version of HTML, which comes with many advancements, as we will know here.

First, HTML5 provides many more tag options, like header, footer, section, article, etc. It makes the language more flexible and user-friendly.
HTML5 supports search engine optimization (SEO), which helps your website gain the traffic and recognition you need for your business. It also provides insights and helps guide you through the shortcomings and ways of improving your website traffic.
It provides extensive support for multimedia by providing dedicated audio and video tags, such as <audio>, <video>, etc.

HTML5 Audio Tags

</audio>

HTML5 Video Tags

</video>

Now, mobile browsing has become more accessible with HTML5. Users can now easily access the resources via mobile.
<canvas> element provides easy method to draw various graphical contents such as circles, images, boxes, triangles, etc.
It provides local storage options to the users. It can use the database to store the data in offline mode on the same database.
HTML5 implements a platform’s independent coding environment, as users do not need to write different codes for multiple platforms.

Disadvantages of HTML5

HTML5 is still in development and has some issues, which we will discuss here.

It only supports modern browsers. It is not compatible with older web browsers.
Being in the development phase, HTML5 vulnerabilities emerge, and security concerns are higher than before.
With new advancements, developers still need to learn and adapt the new tools and resources effectively.
There are a lot of inconsistencies in implementation. Different browsers interpret HTML5 differently, leading to inconsistencies in web page functionalities.