It feels like every discussion recently around web development or any other online platform has come back to AI as a core subject. There’s no doubt that AI is set to have a massive impact on everything digital, but plenty of other technologies are in the works that are worth looking at right now. Here are some of our top picks for non-AI web techs on the horizon.
HTML6
Given how substantial this technology is, the development of HTML6 has received very little coverage from the world in general. Every new generation of HTML has added major new features. For example, HTML5 brought technology that took up the mantle of Flash, meaning that visual apps and things like online casino games can now run directly on websites. It forms the basis of every modern slot or online table game, and nowadays, even bingo games at Paddy Power or other major sites are likely powered mainly by HTML5. HTML5 itself was a game change for this industry, allowing for a variety of games and features to be built natively into sites without the reliance on Flash.
While the details of HTML6 are still a little scarce, there are plenty of predictions of the features that it could include, such as better native security, automatically adaptive images for optimization, and even offline support. It’s set to roll out gradually over the next few years and is likely to be a major change.
Headless CMS
The concept of headless architecture is primarily about going API-first into content management. In the simplest terms, headless architecture disconnects the front end of a website from the backend. It means that, for example, images and assets are drawn onto the page through APIs, meaning that the original content isn’t locked to that site on the backend. If a developer then wants to use the same content on another site, it doesn’t need to be re-uploaded, but instead just have the API plugged into that site as well.
Headless CMS is already starting to see usage and could well become a standard, with big web platforms like WordPress already promoting it as a good standard. We’re seeing more and more specialized APIs and plug-ins being created as well, so we’re well on the way to seeing this becoming the norm for development.
Web3
Strictly speaking, Web3 is less of a web technology and more of a grand project weaving various modern technologies together. For context, the current version of the World Wide Web is known as Web2, a system based on various large companies leasing out domain names and therefore having a degree of control over the network.
Web3 aims to make a completely community-run web based on blockchain technology, where sites are hosted outside of traditional domain structures. There are already a number of large-scale Web3 projects like Galaxis and Paragraph that have received millions in funding and that are based on cryptocurrency and NFTs. If this project can find its feet, expect it to transform the online environment.
Between these three ideas alone, there’s enough proof that AI isn’t the only big change coming. We’d recommend that you start looking into all of them and get ready before they land!
