Until recently, playing video files in a web page was notoriously complicated. The user requires a Flash or Silverlight plug-in and even the simplest HTML is a confusing mess.

Few HTML5 features excite developers more than native audio and video. The and tags allow you to play media files in an HTML5-aware browser without a plug-in. The elements also become part of the DOM so you can create your own player controls, add captions and synchronize JavaScript events with media playback. As a bonus, the basic HTML5 code is far easier to understand.