HTML5 Migration: HTML5 provides developers with powerful, cross-platforms tools for their mobile and web applications, and they get a powerful alternative to the age-old proprietary tools. As it is an open standard, companies can improve its functionality and feature-set as per their requirements.

1. White Paper
Migrating to
HTML 5
The new standard for Interactive Web
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2. Introduction
In the fast paced world of application development, a superior quality product with speed to market is the key to achieve
and sustain success. To keep the pace with the ever evolving market dynamics, organizations need to adapt to the chang-
ing market scenarios and embrace the latest technologies that steer the change, and globalized growth. HTML5 is proba-
bly going to be one of the biggest and most important changes in the internet architecture in the coming decade, and it
will impact almost all the companies and technologies around the world.
HTML standard was first created in 1990, and since then, it has been constantly redeveloped with the goal to improve so
that it can support the latest multimedia while still ensuring the decipherability by the humans, computers and other
devices. HTML5 has revolutionized the way applications are developed for the users for web, desktop applications or
mobile device, and is being promoted as a standard by the computer giants such as Google and Microsoft because it helps
in the application development in a way never seen before. Some of the other industry leaders using HTML5 are Face-
book, Adobe, Apple, SAP and Amazon. Intel is another supporter of HTML5, and it has committed to ensure that HTML5
is established as an open-standard, capable of enabling developers to write applications once, and run on several different
platforms, especially mobile ones.
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Migrating to HTML 5
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3. WHY
HTML 5
With the help of existing tools and platforms, software
developers are able to create interactive and innovative
apps, however, there is a limited choice when it comes
to web application tools and environments. As a result,
there are wonderfully created apps that work well only
on a few devices, and even if they could run on a wider
spectrum of devices and platforms, they do not main-
tain the same level of functionality and quality. While
developing native applications for the smart phones,
the developers have to rely on the native operating
system of the phone to create rich experience for the
users.
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Migrating to HTML 5
HTML5 provides developers with powerful, cross-plat-
forms tools for their mobile and web applications, and
they get a powerful alternative to the age-old propri-
etary tools. As it is an open standard, companies can
improve its functionality and feature-set as per their
requirements. One of the main advantages of HTML5 is
that it does not require any plugin, and as the users do
not need to install any software to view HTML5 pages, it
results in faster load times. Hence, latest form factors
such as tablets and mobiles are adopting latest features
of HTML5, and billions of websites are using HTML,
making the future of HTML5 quite secure and stable.
BROWSER SUPPORT
FOR HTML5
ELEMENT
Cross Document
messaging
Canvas basic
support
Text API
for Canvas
Drag
and Drop
Offline web
applications
HTML5 form
features
Inline SVG
in HTML5
Support
Unknown
WYSIWYG
editable elements
New, stylable
HTML5 elements
Get elements by
class name
Video
Element
Audio
Element
Not
Supported
HTML5 readiness Compatibility with HTML5`s features - Current Status
Internet
Explorer 8.0
Firefox 3.6
Chrome 5.0
Safari 4.0
Opera 10.5
Internet
Explorer 9.0
Firefox 4.0
Chrome 6.0
Safari
Opera
26%
77%
86%
79%
72%
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Some of the advantages of using HTML5 are:
Write once, run anywhere - HTML5 supports both
mobiles and desktops, and several features of HTML5
have been designed to run on low-powered devices
such as tablets and smartphones. It can also run on
multicore processors so that web based applications can
become more powerful and faster.
Additional Features - Many new features incorporated
into HTML5 enable it to support more interactive and
complex applications and multimedia. It has syntactic
features, and integration for ‘MathML’ for mathematical
formulae and scalable vector graphics (SVG) content.
There are also features to provide browser-based offline
storage so that information is stored on the client device
and not on the server. Using geolocation, apps can make
use of real time location details of the user. There are
also advanced graphical features such as gradients and
shadows and touch-screen support. HTML5 also has
several granular features that help developers to mini-
mize the amount of JavaScript they need to write. With
HTML5, the validation can be done within the browser.
New validation features include type checking, manda-
tory checking, range and field length validation etc.
HTML5 is a powerful alternative to other mobile and
web development environments such as Microsoft
Silverlight and Adobe Flash, and also proprietary
plug-ins and platforms.
HTML5 can be used to develop a single application for
different devices such as iPhone, Android and Windows
Phone. Using HTML5 and enhanced capabilities of the
browsers, only one application needs to be developed
for all varieties of smart phones.
Test Automation
Framework Design
Considerations
Migrating to HTML5 reduces the life-cycle cost of the
applications that involve application development for
mobile device, or have rich animated media.
HTML5 enables developers to have a single code base and
smaller development team.
It gives the ability to rapidly deploy applications on all the
mobile platforms and can handle the majority of mobile
experiences.
Using HTML5, it is possible to provide rich interactivity to
fully engage the audience, leading to brand loyalty. It also
helps track how the content is used.
HTML5 supports text reflow, interactivities, animation,
graphic interaction, multimedia, annotation and text
highlighting, and search.
All Android devices and Apple devices support Text to
Speech (TTS) and read aloud with text sync/highlighting.
New HTML5 tool, PubHTML5 is capable of converting
PDFs to online publications, eliminating the need of
manual cut-and-paste to convert PDF content into html
and then align the graphics to make it visually appealing.
It plays a critical role in reducing the cost and effort to
create media-rich applications, desktop applications that
heavily interact with the Web, or creating mobile apps for
different devices.
By taking the components native to the browser without
relying on Adobe Flash, the skill set required for the devel-
opers is reduced, and hence it reduces the development
Migrating to HTML 5
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cost. This also eliminates the need to have different devel-
opers with different skill sets, capable of developing these
applications.
HTML5 provides a robust platform that can deliver consis-
tent digital content, with the ability to intelligently query
content.
With the help of HTML5:
Migrating to HTML 5
Migrating existing
applications to HTML5
A lot of legacy content is stored in the proprietary file
formats, and these formats are almost impossible to
repackage and reuse, or deliver to the mobile devices. The
proprietary tools are not capable of adding interactive
features to make the content engaging for the end users.
Interoperability between proprietary hardware and
proprietary software is usually not possible as these tools
impose artificial limitations and restrictions, and this
directly impacts the ability of the company to penetrate
the market place. As an example, iPad and iPhone from
Apple do not support Flash, which is the most popular
animation format in the industry.
There are several companies that have started creating
mobile content strategies, taking the content directly to
HTML5 or to store content in a baseline format such as
XML. Migrating the existing content to HTML5 provides a
convenient way to future-proof, consolidate and scale the
content, while facilitating delivery to the Web and mobile
devices. HTML5 is completely independent of any specific
vendor application or tools, and hence has become an
international web content standard. It can be rendered on
any mobile device or any modern web browser. If business
is willing to make one-time investment to convert legacy
content assets to HTML5, the content can be delivered to
almost all the existing and future browsers and mobile
platforms. HTML5 provides a standards-based platform to
deliver the digital content ensure the independence from
software and device restrictions, and at the same time, it
ensures that the content is proofed for all the upcoming
device releases.
Rewriting the code from scratch to HTML5 framework is
extremely time consuming, complex and resource inten-
sive. It also requires a specialized skill set, and it many also
create security exposure. To migrate the legacy content to
Although HTML5 supports various functionalities across
different browsers, there are some features that are not
supported by all the browsers. It is quite easy to detect if
any particular feature of HTML5 is supported by the
browser, and if not, developers can degrade gracefully by
using some other feature or tool to achieve the same
functionality. The last option can be to degrade the user
experience by dropping the feature altogether
Videos can be streamed on the Web and mobile devices
Rich animation can be delivered to the users without the
use of Adobe Flash
Geolocation of the user can be identified on the browser
Content can be stored in the browser, without database
Tag specific webpage items for search engines can
understand the content better
Development effort for applications can be drastically
reduced
Analytics tools can be used to monitor web traffic and to
assess the most popular content
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HTML5, there are few tools available that are optimized for
mobile and web applications. These tools allow full control
and access over your code and conversion process. They
improve time to market, and offer low risk and low
complexity.
Steps for Migration:
There is no doubt that it is quite risky to start the initiative
of choosing the new technology for migration, and invest
the resources into the new platform and architecture.
However, to deliver the best value to the customers, it is
Migrating to HTML 5
essential to maintain high standards for performance and
usability. Additionally, the platform must allow addition of
new features in a shorter timeframe. HTML5 offers
cutting-edge UI, mobile support and extensibility, making
it an ideal candidate to migrate from the older applications
such as Flex and Silverlight.
Assess - Start by assessing the code to get the better
understanding. You can use assessment tools that can
provide an immediate report that specifies the level of
automation required to move the existing application
to HTML5.
Translate - The translator platform can be used to
convert the source code to intermediate language
without code freeze of source app.
Compile - The compiler processes the translated code,
and errors are highlighted for developer’s attention.
Configure - Developers can edit, amend code or selec-
tively re-write parts of the application if required.
Generate - Target code can be generated in different
formats, and iterations of compile, test and amend can
be conducted.
Redesign - Rich design platforms can be used to
optimize the interface and enhance capabilities of the
new application.
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Migrating to HTML 5
Migrating Silverlight
to HTML5
Flex and Silverlight are controlled by Adobe and Microsoft
respectively, however, HTML is guided by the W3C consor-
tium, and it is comprised of web developers, browser
manufacturers, and several other interested parties.
Silverlight is the stripped-down version of .NET framework
for web application development. As compared to some
.NET technologies such as Windows Forms, Silverlight is
comparatively a complex framework, and is yet to mature
While HTML5 was evolving, several people have invested
their money, energy and time into Silverlight. However,
gradually the use of tablets and smart phones exploded,
and the support of browsers declined for Silverlight plugin,
most developers gradually started converting to JavaScript
or HTML5. The interesting features of Silverlight are
testability, data-binding, reusability and its language etc.
As compared to Silverlight, HTML5 is quite different, and is
the markup used by most websites these days. HTML5
supports same features and additionally makes it easier to
build enterprise apps with large teams. It also provides a
path for migrating the legacy systems.
HTML5 is a result of the competing forces of standardiza-
tion and innovation, and these are the forces guiding it
to a level where it has good tool support for rapid applica-
tion development. The run-time environment is a brows-
er-based plugin that needs to be downloaded and installed
for the content to be viewed. As Silverlight is a browser
plugin based application, it is rapidly losing it market share
to the upcoming proprietary technology options. The
plugin based architecture also poses problems in terms of
stability, performance, and security.
VS
forward by adding new capabilities not only to HTML5, but
also to its associated technologies of CSS and JavaScript.
Through standardization of HTML5, web developers get
same APIs and features across different browsers. Devel-
opers claim that HTML5 is a true cross-platform solution,
and is likely to be the dominant market player in the near
future. A huge advantage of HTML5 is its usage along with
jQuery within ASP.net MVC framework, providing a
flexible, fast and dynamic way of developing web based
applications.
There are rumors that Microsoft may abandon Silverlight
mainly because the popularity of HTML5 continues to
grow due to its advanced functionalities and wider
support. However, discontinuing may be too radical a step
for Microsoft, and hence it is more likely that they will shift
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8. Migrating to HTML 5
their approach, and will promote Silverlight apps in
Windows phones, out of browser applications, games, and
high performance media apps rather than as a web appli-
cations platform for business systems.
The aim of HTML5 is to have a universal reach across all
browsers and industries. Adaptation of HTML5 is not
limited to any particular sector or domain, and is being
implemented among computer software companies,
building material suppliers, packaging providers, enter-
tainment outlets, beverage companies, communication
and network equipment companies, casualty insurers,
airlines, sports and recreation, e-commerce, media and
entertainment, non-profit, healthcare etc. The studies
have shown that several Fortune 500 companies using
HTML5 have been able to generate and sustain higher
profits and revenue.
Mobile advertising has been rapidly growing as consumers
are increasingly accessing the advertising content across
different devices, and this provides newer opportunities to
reach wider audiences. HTML5 has become a common
choice for most advertisers for developing for the web,
increasing the base for HMTL5 compatible environments.
Studies indicate that out of 10 advertising professionals,
nine feel that HTML5 is having a positive impact on the
advertising industry.
Some of the sectors where HTML5 is yet to gain its popu-
larity are publishing, outsourcing and logistics and trans-
portation fields. There is however strong and steady
growth of HTML5 to meet the challenging and ever chang-
ing demands of these fields.
Supported Domains
Future of HTML5
In order to stay competitive, the old must be disregarded,
and products and applications must be upgraded to the
new standards. If not updated, the company may be
labeled as non-compliant, creating unnecessary barriers
for the users and the products. HTML5 is still under devel-
opment, and hence its functionally can become somewhat
inconsistent and limited. Additionally, it is also interpreted
differently by different browsers. However, by standardiz-
ing HTML5, it is possible to develop applications that are
powerful, and are capable of running across a broad range
of devices. As a result, HTML5 is fast being adopted as the
de facto standard for the content delivery.
HTML5 has strong support from IT suppliers, and it will
soon replace ubiquitous Flash. Facebook is using HTML5 to
design its apps, and several software giants are gradually
migrating their applications to HTML5 in order to stay
abreast and embrace the latest technology.
However, users need modern browsers to experience
most of the modern features of HTML5. When an applica-
tion degrades gracefully, it is much inferior to Silverlight or
Flex where the predictable environment is present. Addi-
tionally, JavaScript is not Object Oriented and hence is not
as formally structured as C# or Java. This requires far more
skilled developers to develop HTML5 applications, which
increases the cost of application development in the short
run. There could also be lack of skill availability.
Modernizing or migrating applications can pose several
challenges depending in architecture, test coverage and
general quality of the legacy test code base. Depending on
the target platform, few factors can change the entire
scope of modernization. If Silverlight applications are built
modularly using MEF, PRISM or some other mechanism,
they can be migrated to HTML5 one module at a time to
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9. Migrating to HTML 5
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reduce risk and ensure a smoother transition for the
legacy applications users. Depending on different
variables, there can be several possible migration paths for
Silverlight applications.
Along with following the Single Responsibility Principle
(SRP), the business layer of the code reuse is improved by
dependency injection and loose coupling. Ability to transi-
tion and reuse is also dependent on code quality on the
server.
Application users operate mainly offline, interacting
with the local storage.
The application needs COM interoperability
The application requires extensive data entry
The application involves rich touch interactions for
usage
The skill set and the preferences of the current devel-
opment team are geared for the native development.
Migrating of native applications to HTML5 is a critical
decision, and must be considered if:
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10. Migrating to HTML 5
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Conclusion
Competitive landscape is changing rapidly. As compared to desktop or native applications, web applications provide
wider reach. With the latest technological advancements, the desktops are becoming less common devices as
compared to mobiles or tablets, and modern libraries and web frameworks continue to evolve in functionalities,
narrowing the gaps in browser application capabilities as compared to the native desktop.
W3C plans to release stable version of HTML5 by the end of 2014. Adopting new standards is always challenging, full of
roadblocks and hindrances, however, the adoption of HTML5 has been quite impressive with companies like Facebook,
Disney, Apple, and Amazon showing significant interest towards it. It is always fun and more interesting to work with
the latest technologies, and with the rapidly growing mobile devices market, HTML has proven to be a promising tech-
nology. With the backing from the major giants, HTML5 could rule the browser landscape sooner than anticipated.
HTML5 is here to stay and has great support from the device and browser vendors, and from the community.
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11. Migrating to HTML 5
About the Author
Ponbharathi Bakthaduruvan works as a Technical Lead with Idexcel. He has over eight years’ experience in developing
enterprise and rich internet applications using HTML5, CSS/CSS3, Adobe Flex and Java/J2EE technologies. He has exper-
tise in software design, architecture, development, implementation and maintenance of enterprise applications and
has delivered many successful projects . He has a deep knowledge of UI development using HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript,
jQuery and developing enterprise level applications using Java, J2EE, Hibernate, Spring, JSP, Servlet, Adobe Flex and
ActionScript.
About Idexcel
Idexcel is an innovative provider of IT Products & Services focused on emerging technologies. We help world leading
companies build efficiencies and stronger businesses. With more than 15 years into existence Idexcel’s main focus is
client satisfaction and technology innovation. Our industry expertise and a global, collaborative workforce forms the
backbone of our services. We offer high degree of skills in Enterprise Applications, Cloud Services, Data-warehousing,
Big Data, Analytic, QA & Testing Services, IT consulting and Staffing. Idexcel product line includes: NDS, ERP, and
Cync - A revolutionary credit monitoring application for the manufacturing and financial management.
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