In this chapter, we’ve looked at some of the more experimental features of the web platform. These are all still in the testing phase and are liable to change, but they’re so powerful and potentially important to the platform’s future that I couldn’t really finish this book without mentioning them.
First up was Web Components, the biggest change to HTML since its invention. Web Components is a suite of features. It makes a parallel DOM that allows reusable code blocks to enhance and extend the standard HTML elements with full encapsulation, protecting them from conflicts with other CSS rules and JavaScript functions.
Next we looked at the future of CSS, which is also undergoing huge changes thanks to the involvement of big tech companies. CSS Regions and Exclusions promise to provide the tools required to create dynamic custom layouts that rival (and exceed?) anything possible in print media.
Finally, I covered new CSS features that are being developed based on innovation from the web development community. These include feature queries that bring native Modernizr-like feature detection to CSS and Cascading Variables that begin the adoption of the best preprocessor features into the language itself.