I have been catching the HTML5 buzz lately but have barely scratched the surface. To those who are in the know, I pose the question:
Can HTML5 truly do everything that Flash can do? Or is this just wishful thinking?
Specifically, I am interested in developing a web-based game, which previously would be a mainstay of Flash. Is HTML5 capable of accomplishing this sort of functionality instead?
HTML5 itself is really just HTML with a few extra tags/elements. You’ll need JavaScript etc. to do anything fancy with it, like creating a game. Remember that HTML5 is really not ready for prime time, though. No browser supports it yet, and it is changing all the time—kind of like a foetus in utero.
That’s quite the colorful analogy! haha
I guess I was referring to HTML5 in the umbrella-term sense of the word (encompassing CSS3 and jscript). I’ve just purchased Sitepoint’s new ebook on the topic and plan to get my hands dirty. From what I have seen so far, it does look like this could supplant Flash, and not in the too-distant future.
From my understanding though, all of the current-generation browsers except IE support HTML5, and IE 10 appears to be slated to support it.
Thanks for the reply!
As HTML 5 is as yet unfinished and subject to change no browser can possibly support it yet. Anything that current browsers support that is currently intended for HTML 6 may be different by the time HTML 5 is finished.
That’s exactly what happened with IE5 and CSS 2.
None of the current browsers—so far as I know—recognize most or any of the new elements, such as <header>, <nav>, <section>, <footer> etc. They just tolerate them, treating them as unknown, inline elements. And no browser understands the document structure of HTML5, which is a big part of what it’s all about. Just saying. 
I guess I was referring to HTML5 in the umbrella-term sense of the word (encompassing CSS3 and jscript)
That’s a common problem with the term HTML5. It’s become a kind of mythological wonder language that can do anything—when in truth it’s just HTML with some new elements, and CSS and JS are separate languages that HTML(x) still relies on do do much.
It’s pretty much been covered in here that HTML5 is basically unsupported. I’ve seen a number of new features being supported better in Chrome and then not working at all in FireFox, so it’s really not that great at this point. And no, it’s not a replacement for Flash. It may be able to encompass some of the features Flash is used for in sites, but at this point in time, it’s not.