Form Mastery

Abstract

In Chapter 2 we took a glance at what is new in web forms. Now it is time to turn our attention to them in more depth. Well, let’s be honest, if that was said with excitement in many circles, even web-related ones, it may well be met with chuckles over the absurdity of getting excited over web forms. In the past, forms have been relegated to a unpleasant corner of web development, the domain of those interested in the finicky nit-picking of radio button groups, text input widths, and option-laden drop-down menus. Where’s the sexy design and rich interactivity? But perhaps more importantly, where are all the form input types that should be there that instead needed to be hacked together using JavaScript? Form markup has been with us for many years, appearing at least as early as the HTML 2 specification, and has not changed in any remarkable way since then. It will be a relief to know then that in HTML5 the light has been cast on them, and they have grown into a capable set of input-handling HTML. Added are a capable new set of form input types, form elements, and attributes, as well as new methods for interfacing with JavaScript and CSS. With HTML5 a lot of functionality that had to be built in other ways is now given for free. Now that is exciting!

Keywords

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