There’s a reason why at airports you hear “The moving walkway is ending…” repeating again and again. Walking on moving surfaces isn’t the most natural thing. It’s easy to trip and fall or just make a wrong step and be off balance.
That’s exactly the situation developers working with HTML5 currently have to deal with. The browsers you’re targeting? Changing! The features you’re targeting? Changing! Even the specifications are changing quite regularly. Better make sure your shoelaces are tied!
Because of this, tools and resources that help you figure out the best places to step are quite valuable. Here are two that we like here at Automata Studios:
Modernizr is a great JS tool that lets you figure out what the user’s browser supports and react accordingly. This isn’t your daddy’s browser sniffer – it actually tests features so even as new browsers come out, it won’t break.
This is a new site that helps you “use the new and shiny responsibly.” It gives you up-to-date information on a feature-by-feature basis on what’s usable right now and how to best do so.