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HTML5 VS JavaScript

Compare HTML5 VS JavaScript and see what are their differences

HTML5 logo HTML5

5th major revision of the core language of the World Wide Web

JavaScript logo JavaScript

Lightweight, interpreted, object-oriented language with first-class functions
  • HTML5 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-20
  • JavaScript Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-05

We recommend LibHunt JavaScript for discovery and comparisons of trending JavaScript projects.

HTML5 features and specs

  • Improved Multimedia Support
    HTML5 provides built-in support for video and audio tags, eliminating the need for third-party plugins like Flash. This makes it easier to integrate multimedia content and improves compatibility across different devices.
  • Semantic Elements
    HTML5 introduces semantic elements like <header>, <footer>, <article>, and <section> which help define the structure of a web page more clearly, enhancing SEO and accessibility.
  • Mobile-Friendly
    HTML5 is designed with mobile devices in mind, ensuring responsive design and better performance on smartphones and tablets. Features like geolocation APIs enhance mobile web applications.
  • Canvas and SVG Support
    HTML5 includes support for the <canvas> element and Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), allowing for dynamic and interactive graphics rendering without needing additional plugins.
  • Improved Accessibility
    With more descriptive tags and attributes, HTML5 helps create websites that are more accessible to users with disabilities, enhancing the overall user experience.

Possible disadvantages of HTML5

  • Browser Compatibility Issues
    Not all browsers fully support every feature of HTML5, which can lead to inconsistencies and require additional coding to ensure cross-browser compatibility.
  • Security Concerns
    New features such as local storage and APIs can introduce security vulnerabilities if not implemented correctly, making careful consideration and validation necessary.
  • Complexity in Migration
    Migrating existing websites to HTML5 may require significant changes in code and structure, which can be time-consuming and complex for developers.
  • Performance Overhead
    While HTML5 offers many features, some can lead to performance overhead if not properly optimized, especially on older devices or resources with limited processing power.
  • Limited Legacy Support
    Older versions of Internet Explorer and other legacy browsers do not support many of the new HTML5 features, which limits the audience that can be reached without fallback strategies.

JavaScript features and specs

  • Wide Browser Support
    JavaScript is supported by all modern web browsers without the need for any plugins, making it highly versatile for client-side scripting.
  • Asynchronous Programming
    JavaScript supports asynchronous programming with features like callbacks, Promises, and async/await, which helps in efficiently handling tasks such as HTTP requests.
  • Rich Ecosystem and Libraries
    The JavaScript ecosystem includes a vast amount of libraries and frameworks like React, Angular, Vue, and Node.js, which streamline development processes.
  • Community Support
    JavaScript has a large and active community, providing extensive resources, documentation, and forums for troubleshooting and development advice.
  • Event-Driven
    The language is inherently event-driven, making it suitable for developing interactive web applications that react to user inputs.
  • Full-Stack Development
    With the advent of Node.js, JavaScript can be used for both client-side and server-side development, enabling full-stack development using a single language.

Possible disadvantages of JavaScript

  • Security Issues
    Being an interpreted language that runs in the browser, JavaScript code is visible to the user, making it susceptible to security risks such as Cross-Site Scripting (XSS).
  • Browser Compatibility
    While JavaScript itself is widely supported, different browsers may implement JavaScript functions and standards differently, leading to compatibility issues.
  • Performance
    JavaScript is generally slower than compiled languages such as C++ or Java. Heavy computations can lead to performance bottlenecks.
  • Single Inheritance
    JavaScript uses prototypal inheritance instead of classical inheritance, which can be confusing for developers coming from object-oriented programming backgrounds.
  • Dynamic Typing
    JavaScript's dynamic typing can lead to runtime errors that are hard to debug, as variable types are checked at runtime rather than during compilation.
  • Fragmentation
    The ecosystem has many competing libraries, frameworks, and tools, which can make it overwhelming for developers to choose the right technologies for their projects.

HTML5 videos

Learn HTML5 in 15 minutes!

More videos:

  • Review - Course Review: Build Responsive Real World Websites with HTML5
  • Review - Dev Ed Course Review - Learn HTML5 and CSS3 for Beginners Crash Course

JavaScript videos

Learn JavaScript in 7 minutes | Create Interactive Websites | Code in 5

More videos:

  • Review - Top 10 JavaScript Interview Questions
  • Review - Learn JavaScript in 12 Minutes

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to HTML5 and JavaScript)
Programming Language
16 16%
84% 84
OOP
18 18%
82% 82
Generic Programming Language
Languages
40 40%
60% 60

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare HTML5 and JavaScript

HTML5 Reviews

20 Best Front-End Frameworks For Bootstrap Alternative
Just like its name, HTML5 Boilerplate provides you HTML5 ready template that has been optimized to meet the most standard of HTML new features. By using this template, you can create a fast, robust and responsive site that is able to adapt to any kind of browser, even the old ones like Internet Explorer.
Source: beebom.com
8 Bootstrap Alternatives
I found http://www.builtwithhtml5boilerplate.com/ good for examples of HTML5 Boilerplate sites and http://www.builtwithbootstrap.com/ good for Bootstrap. But can’t really find any good compilations of foundation or zimit? Anyone?
Source: modernweb.com

JavaScript Reviews

Top 10 Rust Alternatives
In simple words, the main goal of JavaScript is to develop web pages and is used for authentication procedures. Some of the pros of using JavaScript as an alternative to Rust are follows.
Top 15 jQuery Alternatives To Know
ExtJS, as the name suggests, stands for Extended JavaScript. As an offering from Sencha, it depends on YahooUserInterface. ExtJS helps in creating data intensified HTML5 apps with JavaScript. It consists of a huge collection of customizable and high-performance widgets that assist in creating cross-platform mobile and web apps, for any type of modernized device.
The 10 Best Programming Languages to Learn Today
JavaScript skills are always in high demand – most of the world's top websites and apps rely on JavaScript in one way or another. Plus, JavaScript is a great springboard for learning more complex programming languages.
Source: ict.gov.ge

What are some alternatives?

When comparing HTML5 and JavaScript, you can also consider the following products

Python - Python is a clear and powerful object-oriented programming language, comparable to Perl, Ruby, Scheme, or Java.

PHP - A popular general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited to web development

Java - A concurrent, class-based, object-oriented, language specifically designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible

Rust - A safe, concurrent, practical language

Ruby - A dynamic, interpreted, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity

Typescript - TypeScript allows developers to compile a superset of JavaScript to plain JavaScript on any browser, host, or operating system.