Difference between HTML and HTML5

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Main Difference:

HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is the primary markup language for web pages. HTML5 is the version of HTML. There are lots of differences that are given in HTML5. The main difference between HTML and HTML5 is that video and audio are not part of HTML while these both are integral parts of HTML5 specifications.

HTML vs HTML5

HTML:

HyperText Markup Language or simply HTML is the markup language used by web developers to create web [ages. It is written in the format of HTML elements containing tags bracketed in angle brackets like ‘<html>’. These tags use in pairs like <h1> and </h2>, although there are some empty elements as well and that is the requirement, like <img>. Web browsers can read HTML files and render them into visible or audible web page. Web browsers don’t display HTML tags and scripts, but use them to interpret the content of the page. HTML describes the structure of a website semantically along with cues for presentation, making it a markup language, instead of a programming language. HTML elements form the structure blocks of all websites. It allows images and objects to be embedded and can be used to create interactive forms.

HTML5:

HTML5 is the fifth version of HTML and is a core technology markup language of internet that is used for structuring and presenting the content for WWW. It is the latest, final and complete version of HTML standard of the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). It is the successor of HTML4 that was standardized in 1997. The aim of HTML5 is to improve the language by support of latest multimedia while keeping it user friendly and easily readable by humans and consistently understood by computers and devices such as web browsers parsers, etc. HTML5 is intended to subsume not only HTML4, but also XHTML 1 and DOM Level 2 HTML. HTML5 is a response to the fact that the HTML and XHTML in common use on the WWW are mixture of features launched by multiple specifications, along with those launched by software products such as web browsers, those established by common practice.

Differences:

Following are the basic differences between HTML and HTML5.

  • Audio and video were not part of previous HTML version specifications, however, both are the integral part of HTML5 specifications.
  • Vector graphics is also an integral part of HTML5 such as SVG and canvas while vector graphics is possible in HTML with the help of various technologies such as VML, Silverlight, Flash, etc.
  • In HTML, browser cache can be used as temporary storage. In case of HTML5, application cache, web SQL database, and web storage is used.
  • HTML doesn’t allows JavaScript to run in web browser, it runs in same thread as browser interface. HTML5 allows JavaScript to run in background that is possible because of JS Web worker API in HTML5.
  • HTML works smoothly with all old browsers while most of the modern web browsers have started supporting HTML5 specifications. These browsers include: Firefox, Mozilla, Chrome, Opera, Safari, etc.