Web Platform

As the Web continues to move towards the usage of next-get Web technologies such as HTML 5, CSS 3 and others, the current reality is that there aren't many  definitive online resources that cover the best practices for these technologies and their implementations.

Fortunately, a conglomerate of big companies that include Apple, Adobe, Facebook, Google, HP, Microsoft, Mozilla, Nokia and Opera (all working closely with the W3C) have come together and launched a website that plans to become such a definitive resource for HTML 5, CSS 3, and any other web development technology. The website, intuitively called “Web Platform” will also cover the standardization and cross-browser implementation part of these technologies (since many technologies such as HTML5 -for instance- has not been yet standardized by the W3C).

The aim is to improve the standards across all platforms, which means the resource should ideally set the standards for every other company, whether it’s meant for desktop, mobile or other device.

We are an open community of developers building resources for a better web, regardless of brand, browser or platform. Anyone can contribute and each person who does makes us stronger.

Although at the time being there are only a handful of tutorials, ones that mostly relate to the general principles behind these next generation web technologies, the website is organized under the form of a Wiki. In the future, representatives from each of the companies listed above will update the Web Platform with tutorials pertaining to certain aspects of web development.

Users willing to learn the best practices of tomorrow’s web development techniques will also be able to interact and share advice using the forums or the website’s IRC channel. At the time being, the content is supplied in its entirety by the companies part of the project. In the future, though, visitors with the appropriate knowledge will be encouraged to share tips, code examples and such on the Wiki. All the content on the Web Platform website will be licensed under the “creative commons” license.

Here is what Adobe officials had to say regarding the Web Platform initiative:

It is now up to the web community to help create and maintain the most comprehensive and authoritative reference for web technologies. So, go check it out and start contributing. Document the web!

To me, this looks like an awesome initiative, and given the high profile of all the companies that are supporting the project, the Web Platform website might soon become the number one resource for any technology relating to web development and even mobile.