A Comparison of HTML4 and HTML5 with Respect to Server Response Time and Page Load Time

Abstract: HTML5 is a language for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. It is expected to provide better flexibility and interoperability for HTML implementations and offering better user experience than the current HTML4. Previous studies have shown some HTML5 elements are able to provide better accessibility and interaction. In this study, we compare the page load time and server response time of equivalent page, implemented in HTML5 or HTML4, 15 HTML5 elements such as <video>, <audio>and CSS 3.0 are compared with the Flash plug-in, CSS 2.0 and JavaScript in IIS/Apache server. Page load time is defined as the total latency users experience when they open a page, and server response time is the time taken by the first HTTP SNK request that is initiated by device browser to the last FIN packet received from the server while accessing web content.Our results extend previous studies by evaluating new HTML5 elements in Chrome and IE9 browser environment, showing that HTML5 can provide better performance in both client and server side, and the combination of Apache + Chrome is able to maximize the potential of HTML5, which describes a better future for HTML5 development