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 to either download beta/developer versions of browsers, or launch browsers using command-line switches so you can turn various technologies off and on.
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. We have structured these two topics in this way for one very simple reason: they are incomplete. With APIs, libraries, locations, browsers, names, etc., all subject to change, we are not comfortable presenting these topics as finished and ready to go. You need to approach this chapter knowing that things are bound to go wrong or change frequently.
Having said that, even though these topics are experimental, that does not mean you cannot use them right now, nor does it mean they are not useful or capable of doing very cool things. You just need to be aware of the pitfalls before treading forward.
3D with WebGL
The 2D capabilities of HTML5 Canvas are impressive, but what about ...
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