HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language and is the standard used to create web pages. HTML5 refers to the 5th (and current) version of the HTML standard largely brought about to further standardise the industry and increase cross browser compatability between web browsers for both traditional desktop and mobile devices.

HTML5 brings many improvements over its predecessors but the key points are:

» It's modern. HTML5 brings support for better visual styling (in conjunction with CSS3)

» It's quick. HTML5 introduces much clearer syntactic elements which make your code easier to read, easier to develop and less prone to syntax errors, resulting in faster, cleaner code which translates into a more responsive experience to the end user.

» It's cross platform. HTML5 has the ability to run on low powered devices such as smartphones and tablets.

» It's great for medai. HTML5 has much better support for multimedia such as audio and video.