HTML5 and JavaScript Web Apps

Chapter 2. The Mobile Web

Consumers are on track to buy one billion HTML5-capable mobile devices in 2013. Today, half of US adults own smartphones. This comprises 150 million people, and 28% of those consider mobile their primary way of accessing the Web. The ground swell of support for HTML5 applications over native ones is here, and today’s developers are flipping their priorities to put mobile development first.

Even in large enterprise environments, mobile browser statistics are on the rise and starting to align with their desktop cousins. We are still faced, however, with the fact that one third of the Internet is using a version of Internet Explorer older than 9. Even more sobering, in some cases, these early IE users can make up two thirds of the visitors to our sites. This will get better over time, and desktop users will upgrade to newer versions and better browsers, but as we push the Web forward and create amazing applications across all browsers, we must also create a solid architecture that will account for all users and give them the best experience possible.

The capabilities of web browsers mean everything to the success of our web projects and products. Whether for fun, profit, or the overall betterment of mankind, it’s important to understand how data should be served up for both desktop and mobile users. Finding the common ground across all browsers and figuring out which pieces should be used in the construction of today’s web applications is the goal of this ...