14 DAY TRIAL // The web is becoming increasingly powerful, as a platform, the things being built into HTML5, things like WebGL, audio APIs, real-time communication APIs, gamepad APIs, camera APIs and so on, make the web almost as powerful as any native platform.
Granted, there is still work to be done and some things are still experimental. But the gist of it is that the web as a platform for applications is a viable option now and it's going to be get even more powerful in the next months and years.
Anyone following the progress knows this, but it always seems that the best stuff on the web is "almost here" but not quite ready.
Alex Komoroske, a product manager at Chrome, created a series of instructional videos with just this idea in mind, to show that the web as it is now is ready and is working. And the stuff that's coming down the line is even better.
"A few weeks ago one of my developer friends was gushing about the capabilities of his favorite native platform. After every point I felt obliged to point out that the web platform either already had or was actively developing precisely the same capabilities—and then some. He was incredulous. 'Prove it,' he said," he explained.
"So I pulled together a few of my favorite examples from the cutting edge of the web platform and recorded three screencasts to help my friend—and others—meet the web platform again for the first time," he added.
The three videos, available below, go over some of the capabilities of the web as a platform. The first is a collection of basic stuff, things that were always harder to do on the web or that worked and looked worse than they would on a native platform.
The second highlights some of the things that may seem exclusive to native platforms, push notifications, web intents, aka the ability to "register" a web app for a specific task and so on.
Finally, the last video shows off the most advanced stuff, 3D graphics, real-time audio rendering, like you'd need in a game or a music app.
