Foreword

HTML5 is taking over the world. Oh no!

.NET is dead! Java is dead!

Everything is dead and HTML5 is the only technology left standing!

Wait, none of the above is true at all. It turns out that HTML5 is a wonderful tool in our toolbox, one that makes our other tools even better. In fact, learning HTML5 is one of the best things a .NET developer can do today. .NET on the server and HTML5 in a new browser on the client are a killer combination.

Jim and Ian have written about HTML5 in a voice that speaks directly to the interests and concerns of the .NET developer. The samples are clear and useful but also coded from the perspective of an ASP.NET programmer who wants to get things done. This is hugely helpful for existing ASP.NET and .NET coders who want to get up to speed on HTML5.

HTML5 is a collection of new tags and bits of markup, but the term “HTML5” is overloaded. It also encapsulates CSS3 and new JavaScript APIs, like GeoLocation and LocalStorage. But HTML5 is more than these new tools—it is more than a specification; it’s a new way to think about writing web applications; it’s an assumption that your client’s browser has capabilities and processing power that we couldn’t dream up three years ago.