The use of HTML5 has never been higher, with around half of all developers having already switched to the programming language, according to a recent study. This research sets the stage for what is sure to be a packed house at the upcoming HTML5 Developers Summit, collocated with ITEXPO East 2012, which gets underway today in Miami.

The HTML5 Summit is dedicated to providing developers and designers with the tools and information necessary to exploit the next generation of the Web. In attendance will be thought leaders from Google, AT&T, Samsung, Research in Motion and many more.

Laurent Hasson, Technical Director of the BlackBerry (News - Alert) Web Platform at RIM, who will be leading one of the final presentations at the conference, Animating the Tablet Experience, recently sat down with TMC CEO Rich Tehrani (News - Alert) to discuss HTML5 and other recent trends in mobile development.

In the interview below, Hasson explains that HTML5 is "clearly the juggernaut of mobile development," in spite of the fact that the programming language still carries a few drawbacks. With new frameworks being created each day, and a community of developers willing to push the limits of innovation, HTML5 will continue to evolve, he added.

Hasson also conveyed his dismay for the perceived prejudice against Web apps, something he calls Native Is Better Syndrome (NIBS). He believes that RIM's commitment to Web technologies – with over 30 percent of PlayBook apps being of the Web variety – will be a strong differentiator moving forward.

However, he does acknowledge that the Web doesn't yet offer the same audio-visual quality of native frameworks. But that gap will continue to shrink, says Hasson, who wouldn't bet against the Web in the coming years.

Check out the complete interview below for Hasson's thoughts on the device wars and some recommendations for HTML5 sites and tools. You can also head to his Animating the Tablet Experience presentation, which gets started at 9 a.m. on Friday Feb. 3 at the Miami Convention Center.

RIM is also giving away a Free BlackBerry PlayBook at the HTML5 Hack-a-thon that kicks off tonight.

CES (News - Alert) showed us that PCs and ultrabooks are not going to go down without a fight. How do you see the device wars impacting your development efforts?

People always love a fight, don’t they? If anything, the market has proven that there is always room for diversity and innovation. PCs, notebooks, ultrabooks, tablets and phones have proven their usefulness for a lot of people, and although the trend seems to definitely be on the side of smaller/lighter computing devices, many people still deal with a laptop or desktop in their daily lives. Certainly, the pressure is on to graduate tablets and phones to even more powerful functionality, so you’ll see over time more “tasks” that used to be dominantly desktop/laptop driven to become mobile and available easily on the smaller devices. Our upcoming Playbook 2.0 OS and our next generation BB10 will deliver that type of integration and access to features and even go a bit further with how people can use and manage those ever day tasks. I’m really excited about what’s coming up.

We have lots of wrappers now becoming pretty standard. What are your common ways of developing for HTML5?

HTML5 is an evolving standard with an incredible pace of innovation. That can result in chaos for some people who simply want to build something and frankly, don’t care much about how they build it; just show me the recipe, and I’ll follow without asking questions. There is a new JavaScript library every day, but you also have compelling ecosystems that are developing, such as jQuery, Dojo or Sencha. This is actually what we recommend our developers to use, primarily jQueryMobile and SenchaTouch, and we are invested in making them great on our BlackBerry devices. Dojo Mobile is also popular, but in a different market, more enterprise-based. We have also spearheaded a few frameworks of our own such as AliceJS and BBUI which help deliver more exciting apps.

What HTML5 sites do you recommend?

There are so many. I guess HTML5 Weekly, JavaScript Weekly and QuickrMode are certainly top on my list, and from there on, it’s Twitter and searching for specific things through Google (News - Alert). Figuring out a good network of contacts in Twitter is key as you get a lot of news and insights shared through there. If you are a jQuery guy, make sure you follow the entire core jQuery heads for example. Of course, you should follow a lot of the new crop of Web developers at RIM who are shaking things up.

What Tools do you recommend?

At RIM, our philosophy is to be as Web as we can be. As mentioned above, picking a good framework is your first step. We have recommended jQueryMobile, SenchaTouch and Dojo Mobile, which all come with a variety of tools. But we have also built a simple streamlined and extremely efficient library called BBUI to quickly churn out Web applications with a BlackBerry look and feel, and we have created AliceJS which allows you to add sophisticated visual effects to your application.

But we go way beyond that and I think this is a major differentiator from our competitors. Our approach extends to sophisticated tooling. First, we have our WebWorks platform which allows you to create Web-based apps with native app capabilities. WebWorks is used as the BlackBerry implementation for Apache Cordova (fka PhoneGap) and is part of the greater movement in the community to create a de-facto standard for a Web platform that targets native capabilities on devices.

Second, we have enabled at the core of our implementation support for WebInspector. This premiered with our first release of the PlayBook almost a year ago now, and we are still the only ones in the market to do it. What this means is that you can use our laptop for example to connect to your Web application running on your device (the PlayBook or BB7 phones), in real-time, and use all the standard WebInspector tooling from desktop browsers such as Google Chrome or Safari. You can do that via a simple USB connection, or through a normal network connection (Wi-Fi). Imagine that; you can trace, visualize, tweak your application as if you were developing traditional desktop-bound Web application. It’s an amazing productivity boost for mobile Web development.

Finally, we have Ripple, which allows you to do mobile testing and emulation for your application directly from a browser without even needing a device to test on. This is another major productivity boost compared to doing any testing with a Simulator for example. And the bonus -- it doesn’t only work for our devices. We are committed to a Web development workflow, with Web-based tools, and a cross-platform outcome.

Often our lessons are generational based on our kids and the millenials now entering the workforce. What is the impact of these new users and what is their relevance to HTML5?

A lot has been written on this topic, and I don’t think it’s HTML5 specifically that’s affected, but how we think about applications in general. To me, what defines the new breed of application is hyper connectivity. Things get shared a lot, and often; communication is constant. This is an area where the Web has traditionally been very powerful and successful. All the major tools we use in our lives today such as Facebook (News - Alert), Twitter, or LinkedIn have been born from the Web.

At the same time, the integrated experience is as important as the functionality. BlackBerry devices have remained very popular due to the content creation/sharing experience they offer -- the ability to tie into email, BBM, voice, other apps, multimedia, calendar, contacts, the menu – all these things that create an amazing flow for users and that really defines why BlackBerry devices have always been so popular over the world.

One area where the Web is comparatively weaker is about audio-visuals. People today care a lot about fashion and how good things look. The Web still has a long way to go to offer a truly astonishing audio-visual experience. This is where native frameworks still beat the Web. But frankly, I still wouldn’t bet against the Web and I know that in the coming years, the gap will continue to shrink.

HTML5 is already being used by more than half of developers according to most research. Are there ways for HTML to further evolve as it continues as the defacto development standard?

I have read the statistics, but I am personally more interested in the “best” apps vs. the “most” apps. And even when talking about pure numbers, over 50 percent of mobile apps are not Web apps today. I remain very confused that Facebook, or Twitter, or our own BlackBerry Messenger apps are not simply Web-based apps across the board. I find there is still a lot of prejudice against Web apps, what I call NIBS (Native Is Better Syndrome). Now, Native has its place, but it doesn’t have to come at the expense of Web apps, or their reputation or perception of quality.

I love talking with customers who think their app could not be done in Web, and prove them wrong. I show them things like AliceJS, the framework I have started, or the Financial Times (News - Alert) app which is simply gorgeous. I explain to them RIM’s commitment to Web technologies and how over 30 percent of apps today on our Playbook platforms are Web apps. I explain the web ecosystem and how rich, dynamic, and productive it is. The Web development story is very compelling.

But HTML5 still faces technological challenges such as good sound for gaming, stable and pervasive graphics acceleration across all platforms, WebGL, a number of still incomplete CSS (News - Alert) features and so on. Last but not least, as Web applications become larger and more complex, JavaScript is showing its age, and there are heated debates all over the net about what the next JavaScript should be like.

We need as a community to continue on delivering applications that are slicker and slicker, and which deliver richer and richer visuals. I know a lot of people who will throw stones at me for saying this, but the way your app looks is as important as the functionality it offers. When people talk of sparse clean looks, I tend to roll my eyes: not everything needs to look like the Google home page.

Why is HTML5 a must-attend event in this evolving mobile world?

HTML5 is clearly the juggernaut of mobile development. It is already happening in spite of obvious shortcomings, which should immediately tell you that its pros already outweigh its cons. This is very significant. I think 2011 saw that shift where the mobile Web became good enough for non-trivial app development. That is very cool.

Additionally, HTML5 is a rapidly evolving platform, with new frameworks popping up every day, and a hyper-creative community which is not afraid to question its current practices and explore what can be done better. JavaScript is a key example: you cannot claim to be on top of Web development if you don’t know what CoffeeScript is, and what the current heated conversations about modules and AMD (News - Alert) means to you as a developer. You have to keep on top of things and re-educate yourself often because things evolve so fast, and you want to write the best and most efficient code you can.

So, a conference that focuses on disseminating cutting edge information about all facets of HTML5 is absolutely what we need more of, and Web developers should attend. We are one big community that must constantly learn.

Want to learn more about HTML5? Then be sure to attend HTML5 Summit, collocated with TMC’s ITEXPO East 2012, happening NOW in Miami, FL. HTML5 has the potential to revolutionize user interfaces, challenge the status quo and change the future of both desktop and mobile web experiences. Join fellow web developers, designers, and architects, as well as technology leaders and business strategists who will gather in Miami to learn strategies and tactics to implement and execute HTML5. For more information on registering for the HTML5 Summit click here.

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