HTML5 is cleaning the proverbial floor with other development languages, at least according to a new survey by Sencha. Based on an interview sample of 2,128 business developers, Sencha found that 60 percent of them had already migrated to an HTML5 and hybrid development platform for building their primary applications, while less than 10 percent continue to rely on pre-HTML5 Web technologies. Moreover, the substantial majority of those HTML5 developers claim they’ve been doing more development with HTML5 this year than last. “The most popular HTML5 features in common use include CSS3 styling, local storage, animations/transitions, HTML5 video and the canvas drawing API,” read Sencha’s note accompanying the data. The survey found that some 50 percent of developers support a combination of mobile and desktop targets with their primary applications. “The median developer supports five device types,” the note continued. “Typical developers now support their applications on Windows classic, MacOS, iPhone, iPad and at least one Android phone.” A distinct minority of developers (20 percent) focused their efforts solely on mobile devices, while slightly more (30 percent) targeted the desktop to the exclusion of all other platforms. The most interesting development—and possibly the most worrisome for one company in particular—is the increasing abandonment of Windows classic as an app-development target, although Windows’ substantive legacy means it remains the top focus of app developers as a whole. Some 30 percent of developers have dropped support for Windows classic in the past year, according to Sencha. “Windows tablets and phones also have one of the largest ‘testing gaps’ (a high percentage of developers who claim support for the platform without testing their apps on it),” read its note on that aspect of the developer community. “Add to this, the lackluster interest in Microsoft’s next generation scripting language, TypeScript, and you have a platform that’s starting to get a little crispy.” Developers are also exhibiting a preference for standards-issue technologies such as JavaScript, as opposed to proprietary products such as TypeScript and Dart: “Almost 60 [percent] of developers said that they were either not familiar or had no interest in Dart,” read the note. “Only 10 [percent] of developers had high interest in Dart and 17 [percent] had high interest in TypeScript.” The survey includes much more, including the actual HTML5 features used most by developers, and is well worth checking out on that basis. Image: Sencha HTML5 vs. Everything Else: Guess What’s Winning?
HTML5 is cleaning the proverbial floor with other development languages, at least according to a new survey by Sencha. Based on an interview sample of 2,128 business developers, Sencha found that 60 percent of them had already migrated to an HTML5 and hybrid development platform for building their primary applications, while less than 10 percent continue to rely on pre-HTML5 Web technologies. Moreover, the substantial majority of those HTML5 developers claim they’ve been doing more development with HTML5 this year than last. “The most popular HTML5 features in common use include CSS3 styling, local storage, animations/transitions, HTML5 video and the canvas drawing API,” read Sencha’s note accompanying the data. The survey found that some 50 percent of developers support a combination of mobile and desktop targets with their primary applications. “The median developer supports five device types,” the note continued. “Typical developers now support their applications on Windows classic, MacOS, iPhone, iPad and at least one Android phone.” A distinct minority of developers (20 percent) focused their efforts solely on mobile devices, while slightly more (30 percent) targeted the desktop to the exclusion of all other platforms. The most interesting development—and possibly the most worrisome for one company in particular—is the increasing abandonment of Windows classic as an app-development target, although Windows’ substantive legacy means it remains the top focus of app developers as a whole. Some 30 percent of developers have dropped support for Windows classic in the past year, according to Sencha. “Windows tablets and phones also have one of the largest ‘testing gaps’ (a high percentage of developers who claim support for the platform without testing their apps on it),” read its note on that aspect of the developer community. “Add to this, the lackluster interest in Microsoft’s next generation scripting language, TypeScript, and you have a platform that’s starting to get a little crispy.” Developers are also exhibiting a preference for standards-issue technologies such as JavaScript, as opposed to proprietary products such as TypeScript and Dart: “Almost 60 [percent] of developers said that they were either not familiar or had no interest in Dart,” read the note. “Only 10 [percent] of developers had high interest in Dart and 17 [percent] had high interest in TypeScript.” The survey includes much more, including the actual HTML5 features used most by developers, and is well worth checking out on that basis. Image: Sencha 
