HTML API i.e., Application Programming Interface is the one in which definition as well as protocols are designed with HTML and the tools which are there are used to configure into HTML code only.
Let’s know more about HTML APIs
There are various classes as well as attributes that can be used to make the existing HyperText Markup based page better. This helps in acknowledging this language in a better manner as this is not just used for structuring a webpage but also to enhance its functionality.
Introduction of HTML5 APIs is a revolution in the web design, web development, web application, and gaming industry seriously. It has given a new edge to the designing and development industry.
There are n numbers of people those are using these HTML APIs almost in their every project. When I offer training in HTML5 course then frankly speaking I always wait for the HTML5 API session to share with my students so that I can show them the actual power of today’s HTML, which most of the developers might underestimate
List of Common HTML5 APIs
1.) Audio API
Now create fully fledged audio albums and galleries or just add a single track of music in background in your website or web app without worrying about any good additional plug-in.
2.) Video API
According to an online survey every website has a need of a video and many of them has a video in the world. If you couldn’t put a video due to plug-in compatibility or performances issues then it is a right time to put not only one video now you can really create a complete video album, video gallery, cue points video application etc by just using HTML5 Video API.
3.) Canvas API
Imagine a website or application without the animation!! Not talking about drop-down menu, tabbed panel or slide show only these are old fashioned statements now a days. Think something beyond the traditional approaches for animation integration in web page like real-time graph generation, an animated gaming character, flake or snow fall animation, seamless endless cloud animation etc. These are just the few examples those can be created using HTML5 Canvas API.
4.) Drag & Drop API
Now you can drag things and drop them in a container in a native manner using HTML. Whether it is a web app, ecommerce website, game, or e-learning content you will need this feature.
5.) Local Storage API
Now store a huge data in your browser to improve user experience on your website or web application or game. Now your visitors will feel more personalized on your project than ever.
6.) Geolocation API
An application, game, or website needs to deliver information to its visitors not only according to the device but also according to their geo-location (Geographical Location like their country and cities etc). HTML5 Geolocation API enables us to track the location of visitors by their altitude and longitude so that we can offer the content that they are looking for. Isn’t this feature amazing?
7.) High Resolution Time API
This High Resolution Time helps in knowing the current time in sub-milliseconds. It shows the time irrespective of system’s clock adjustment. The method that is shown by this is window.performance object which is also called now(). The most explicit feature of this is performance.now(). It provides DOMHighResTimeStamp as the output that is the current time shown in milli seconds. It is majorly supported by all the browsers such as IE10, chrome, firefox, safari etc.
Basic Example is :
vartime=performance.now();
8.) Navigation Timing API
It is an amazing API with helps in knowing the pageload by the use of timing property that is there in window.performance object. Not only this it also provides DNS lookup, connection establishment etc. It is supported by various browsers such as IE9, chrome, firefox, safari etc.
9.) Vibration API
In today’s industry one feature that is taking all the attention for enhancing the UX i.e. User Experience of the website is by adding Vibration API. It helps in receiving the feedback in through touch. It is especially used in interacting through the mobile devices. It plays a major role in game as well as videos.
It is done with the assistance of vibrate() method that is present in the window.navigator. It accepts the timing in milliseconds. It works great on chrome, firefox as well as opera.
Basic Example of this is :
// Vibrate once for 3 seconds
navigator.vibrate(3000);
10. Battery Status API
Another very helpful API is the inspection of status of battery. It helps in knowing the status of the battery at the current time as well as the level of the battery. In process of using this four properties are usually used namely charging, chargeTime, dischargeTime and level. These properties are the part of window.navigator object.
The browser which currently supports this well is firefox as well as all the ones in mobile.
Here is an example to know the percentage of the battery :
var percentageLevel = navigator.battery.level * 100;Benefits of using HTML5 APIs in a web project
Although there are many benefits of using HTML5 APIs in web project, yet I’ll focus on only few of them.
- You don’t need Flash content and swf player for many of the basics tasks such as audio/ video and drag/ drop implementations. Now you don’t need any third party plug-in to use all these features in your web project.
- You have a native support from browsers for implementing such advanced features. All the browsers are giving support for these HTML5 APIs.
- No need to learn any other languages except common languages and scripts such as HTML 5 and JavaScript now. This framework is giving 100% solution to do anything from website to web application and e-learning content to games for I-phone and androids.
- Games industry is a big market now days. Companies and individuals develop games for earning money or for publicity or for both. For example at the launch of a movie/ film you noticed a free game on Google Play Store or Apple Play Store.
Challenges in using HTML5 APIs in a website or application
I think this point is not completely relevant today because most of the browsers are providing complete support for HTML5 APIs if we ignore some less popular or old browsers.
If you have any type of compatibility issues related to these APIs then don’t worry there are a number of solution available for you. Some of the examples are Modernizr and Excanvas these are actually JavaScript library to detect supported features and provide fallbacks.
What you need to learn to work with HTML5 APIs?
All these APIs are JavaScript based so you must have good amount of knowledge of JavaScript. The use of these APIs completely depends on your JavaScript knowledge. Meaning what can be created by you using these APIs is completely depends on the knowledge of JavaScript because these APIs are just like an special object those have their properties, methods, and events just like other JavaScript’s objects.
Common uses of HTML5 APIs
Using HTML 5 API’s developers can create different types of galleries, web applications, games, animated graphics and data visualization projects. Apart from this these API’s also help in following ways:
- It helps in providing better flexibility to the programs as well as functions.
- It plays a major role in collaborating among the designers as well as developers.
- Makes it easy to design mockups with better fidelity in the designs.
- They helps in providing better web solutions to the customers.
- It helps in increasing the usage of information fast, effective as well as efficient.
- It is used in various multimedia areas such as building video gallery, audio gallery, web applications, data visualisation etc.
These are some major insights that an HTML programmer needs to know about the APIs that are there in HTML and their benefits as well as uses in various areas. To have practical understanding of the same joining the best HTML course at the best HTML training institute would be the best option. Contact us if you want to learn anything related to multimedia.
Click on JavaScript projects and HTML5 projects link to view more working examples.
Hope you enjoyed reading this blog.
