Book excerpt: This short book provides a practical introduction to HTML5. HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the predominant language of web pages. Originally developed as a way to describe and share scientific papers, HTML is now used to mark up all sorts of documents and create visual interfaces for browser-based software. With HTML5, however, HTML has become as much an of API for developing browser-based software as it is a markup language. In this book, we'll talk about the history of HTML and HTML5 and explore its new features. It covers: HTML5 basics Multimedia Canvas and SVG HTML5 applications HTML5 APIs HTML5 is required knowledge for every professional web designer and developer. This book will quickly get you up to speed with the fundamentals of HTML5 and give you the confidence to start experimenting on your own.