SVG is dying? What's next?

Question

I heard from more than a single source that SVG is dying, it is abandoned by Adobe.

How sad! What's will be next alternative to SVG?

Thanks,

Answer 1

SVG (Viewer) was abandoned by Adobe ages ago since most browsers support it natively.

Only IE is holding back the technology by not having native support.

Update: IE9 will have both native SVG support and native Canvas support! (Vista and above only though)

If you'd like to show your support for getting IE to support it natively add your vote and comments to these bugs.

https://connect.microsoft.com/IE/feedback/SearchResults.aspx?SearchQuery=SVG

Answer 2

Bring back VML! Just kidding ;) I don't think SVG is dying, but <canvas>'s adoption for HTML5 seems like the way things are going on the web.

Answer 3

SVG is an open standard, developed by W3C. I really don't see it dying any time soon. Just because certain companies decide to drop its use for their commercial products (usually because they need, or feel they need, something more customised), it does not at all mean SVG will disappear on a more global scale.

At the moment, it's undoubtedly the most widely used vector graphics format on the web. Just take for example the images on Wikipedia - for almost all diagrams SVG is either used or there is a notice stating that it should be used. Many other open source projects endorse it in a similar way.

Now, the XAML markup language (part of WPF/Silverligtht) has been seen as a competitor to SVG by some, but truly they only overlap in functionality to a certain degree. (XAML supports lots of other things such as data binding, events, triggers, etc.) Indeed, the general use of XML is much restricted in that browsers don't natively support it (and can't properly, because of the fact that it's tightly bound to MS technologies). I would not even believe that it's strictly a direct competitor to SVG, nor that Microsoft have intended so.

To conclude, I don't think one can envisage SVG dying out until something clearly improved (and open-standard) comes along to replace it. As far as I know, there is nothing like that at the moment.

Answer 4

Check your sources.

A lot of people want SVG "dead". A common way of getting something to happend is by spreading rumours that it has already happend. It's called a self-fullfilling prophecy (wikipedia). Don't buy into it, and please don't actually help those wanting it dead by spreading the rumor further yourself.

Is SVG dead?
No, it has just begun.

What's next?
HTML5, Canvas and SVG in one long glorious love-affair. Get your first-row tickets now!

(Actually here's a youtube video of html5, canvas and svg showing off the infinite resolution inherent in vector graphics. Somewhat lame but real, unlike rumors.)

Answer 5

I'd like to add my support for SVG. First, I believe that it is widely used in mobile technology though this is through conversations about 2 years ago rather than seeing code. It was one for the first languages developed by W3C to be used over-the-web and has been consistently supported for the last 10 years. I initially thought it would be a killer-app in 1998 and said so, especially since Adobe then had enthusiastic support.

Because SVG is a full XML dialect it can be easily mixed with other XML applications such as XHTML and MathML. It's possible to include XML information in SVG elements so that documents can be fully semantic (i.e. carry a data-meaning as well as a graphical one).

SVG is effectively feature-complete for a 2-D graphics language. There is no technical reason to invent anything else. It does high-quality rendering, animation and can support interaction through its own elements or through Javascript. It is therefore unlikely that major web software manufacturers will NEED to invent anything else.

The main problem is not that SVG is "dying" - it is not - but that it takes a long time for the various companies to converge. When they do I would expect SVG to emerge as a consensus.

Part of the problem is that graphics are not yet seen as a semantic problem - it's often "easier" to inflict a dumb animation on a client than to set up the infrastructure to send semantics over the web and repurpose at the client. But as the semantic web develops then standards such as SVG will be increasingly important. If, for example, you wish to mash-up geographical information then either you use a properietary solution such as GoogleMaps, or you look for a shared standard approach. You can never count on free proprietary solutions in the long run.

Note also that in many areas which receive public funding there is an increasing drive towards Open standards and this is another reason why SVG is well positioned.

Answer 6

Then there's this article posted Friday on Network World, titled EC decision expected to force IE to better support standards. In it, Håkon Wium Lie, Opera's CTO, states

Second, due to the increased competition stemming from the ballot box, browsers will improve their support for standards. This will result in a richer, faster web. For example, I believe that Microsoft's IE will add support for SVG, a standard that all browsers but IE support.

Of course, it's in his best interest to see IE falling in line, but behind, his browser. He gets to be cutting edge, but part of a larger 'standards' crowd.