HTML5 Canvas, 2nd Edition

Chapter 11. Further Explorations

There are many emerging technologies and frameworks that can help take HTML5 Canvas into rarely explored areas. In this chapter, we will cover a couple of those areas: using Canvas for 3D with WebGL, and using Canvas for multiplayer applications. Both of these areas are still experimental, requiring you either to download beta/developer versions of browsers or to launch browsers using command-line switches so that you can turn various technologies off and on.

We will also cover a couple more topics that, while still involving the Canvas, veer into software design and emerging platforms. We will create a sample structure for our Canvas code and then apply it to a drag-and-drop application. After that, we will take that application and deploy it on the Microsoft Windows 8 desktop.

This chapter is structured a bit differently. The discussions are focused on giving you some tools and information about these new and emerging areas for Canvas. While we will offer code, examples, and some explanation, it’s geared more toward getting you started on the path to learning than on teaching you how every detail works.