HTML5 - Just getting started

[Joel Palmer]

I'm a WPF developer first then a Silverlight developer.  My boss just asked me to check into creating an HTML5 application because we would like to support cross-browser and mobile applications.  These are business apps with data, not media.

Questions:
What resources can you point out that'd help me up this learning curve?

How close is ASP.NET and HTML5?  I know they aren't the same thing but what do I need to know here?

I'd like to create a demo app that pulls data from a 2.0 Web Service that serves up a DataSet then allows CRUD functionality using data binding on a simple HTML5 form that is styled by Kendo controls.  Anyone have a demo?

I appreciate any help you can provide,
Joel.

[Iana Tsolova]

Hello Joel,

Indeed, you can build your application under ASP.NET and it will behave acceptable on mobile devices. The CRUD operations will need to be implemented with server-side code though.

But if you want to implement true HTML5 application which is optimized better for mobile devices, you would better start with Kendo UI. Check this page for more information.

Kind regards,
Iana Tsolova
the Telerik team

[Joel Palmer]

Thanks for the feedback.  I realize this is a "vague/general" post so thanks for responding anyway.

So, are you saying that if I build a UI in ASP.NET that it has cross-browser support?  That'd be cool if thats as far as I need to go.  But, it seems I'm still missing something.  You have separate support packages for ASP.NET and HTML5.  That tells me there are significant differences between them.  Eg.  Can I develop an ASP.NET site and it'll run on a browser that doesn't support plugins?  If so, how does a Kendo app improve on it?

[Iana Tsolova]

Hi Joel,

Straight to your questions:

If you build the application using RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX you will achieve cross-browser support. But you should know that we still have issues with mobile devices which we are polishing out and the controls are not especially design to work on mobile browsers.
About the difference between the ASP.NET and Kendo controls:
    - ASP.NET AJAX controls are server-side controls, made to work in Web Forms. They use ViewState, created on the server, following the Web Forms Page lifecycle. For some of the operations they require postbacks. The ASP.NET AJAX controls are adopting only these HTML5 features that work in all browsers we support.
    - The Kendo components work on the client, use HTML and JavaScript (HTML5) only and do not support old browsers. They are better if mobile devices is of high importance for you. On the other hand, they are not as mature as RadControls for ASP.NET AJAX and when you use Kendo, you need to develop with JavaScript.

These are a few of the differences. Which platform you choose is an architecture decision that you need to take depending on your target users, the resources and knowledge you have.

In addition, I suggest that you check this topic and see if helps.
And it is also good to try them both and work with them for your proof of concept.

All the best,
Iana Tsolova
the Telerik team

[Joel Palmer]

Once again.  Thanks much for your help.