The mass migration to HTML5 is well underway, with around half of all developers having already switched to the programming language, according to a new study.

Evans Data's latest Global Development Survey found that 43 percent of North American developers currently rely on HTML5. Use is even higher in the Asian Pacific regions, where 58 percent of developers have moved to the language. Programmers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) have been slower to migrate to HTML5.

Even more astonishing, Evans Data researchers found that a whopping 75 percent of the 1,200 global respondents plan to move to HTML5 if they haven't already.

"There isn't any question about the adoption of HTML5, it's already the de facto standard," Janel Garvin (News - Alert), CEO of Evans Data, noted in a statement. "There is especial strength in HTML5 for mobile and cross-platform mobile apps, which is the direction the industry is moving for client devices, and that has made it extremely attractive to developers everywhere in the world. We see the most strength in Asia, a region that is generally quick to adopt new technologies."

One of the reasons for strong HTML5 adoption numbers is its short development cycle, which programmers across all regions prefer to Flash and Silverlight by a 20 percent clip.

HTML5 even made it into the keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, when Microsoft (News - Alert) CEO Steve Ballmer announced that users who make the leap to Internet Explorer 9 now have free access to the highly-popular iOS game Cut the Rope.

Microsoft partnered with the game's developer, ZeptoLab, to create a free HTML5-based version of the highly addictive game, which has been downloaded more than 60 million times as an iOS app. The move is meant to give users a bit more incentive to ditch older IE versions.

For more on this revolutionary technology, check out the HTML5 Developers and Designers Conference in Miami this February. Collocated with ITEXPO East 2012, the HTML5 Developers Summit will provide attendees with the information and tools needed to exploit the popular Web programming language.

The conference will focus on UI design, back-end development, HTML5 business models and security, among other topics. Executives from Adobe, Google (News - Alert), Samsung and many others will be on hand. Click here to register.

Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Rich Steeves