20 July 2012

Part1: basics of html5 (part4)



Browsers

Why are web browsers important?

The browser is the program that allows us to see the websites. As I have explained earlier, the work of the browser is to read the HTML and CSS to display a video output on the screen. If your CSS says "The titles are in red," then the browser will display the titles in red. The role of the browser is essential!

One would not, but a browser is an extremely complex program. Indeed, understanding the HTML and CSS is not an easy task. The main problem, you quickly realize is that different browsers do not display the same site in exactly the same way! It will take you there and do make a habit to regularly check that your site works correctly on most browsers.

Browsers on PC

It is advisable to install multiple browsers on your computer to ensure that its site to work on each one. In general, I recommend to test its website regularly at least on Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer.
Note that Safari and Google Chrome display websites in much the same way. It may not be necessary to test your site on Google Chrome and Safari, although it is always safer.


The figure below shows an overview of the result produced by some of the major browsers on the homepage of Google.

Overview of some browsers

Understand the differences between browsers

As I said earlier, browsers do not always display the same website in exactly the same way. Why? This is because browsers do not always know the latest features of HTML and CSS. For example, Internet Explorer has long lagged behind some CSS features (and paradoxically it was also ahead of some others).

To complicate matters, multiple browser versions co-exist:

-Firefox 2, Firefox 3.5, Firefox 3.6, Firefox 4;
-Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8, Internet Explorer 9;
-Chrome 8, 9 Chrome, Chrome 10;
-etc..

Each version supports new features, but if users do not update their (s) browser (s), it becomes a problem for webmasters like you who create websites.
Chrome has largely resolved the problem by setting up automatic updates without user intervention. Firefox users do not always think to upgrade their browsers as Internet Explorer, users are even less incentive to update their browser to the latest versions also require switching to a recent version of Windows (Internet Explorer 9 was not available for Windows XP, for example).

Features managed by different browsers

As you can see, it's ... complicated.

Most of the concerns most often come from older versions of Internet Explorer (IE6, IE7, IE8). You should check how the site appears as the older versions ... Expect the unexpected! Check especially that your site is displayed without error, without trying to get exactly the same rendering on older versions of these browsers.

There is a Windows program called IETester. He can check his site rendering in different versions of Internet Explorer. Note that this program is relatively unstable (it crashes often) but it has the merit to exist.

Browsers on mobile

In most browsers that I have presented, we must know that there are variants of these browsers designed for mobile phones, especially smartphones.
More and more people today consult websites on their mobile phones, we must know a minimum operation of mobile browsers.

In fact, you will not be disoriented: most browsers on smartphones are the same as on computer, in a lighter version suitable for mobile. It depends on the type of phone.

-iPhone :on Apple's iPhone, the Safari Mobile browser is used. This is a light version and yet very complete Safari for PC.
-Android: Android laptops benefit from the Chrome Mobile. Again, this is a mobile friendly version.
-Windows Phone: Windows Phone, there is ... Internet Explorer Mobile! The principle is the same as for previous browsers: it is dedicated to the mobile version.
-Blackberry: Blackberry are exceptions because they have their own browser (there is no equivalent on computer). However, the most recent versions of this browser is based on a common core in Safari and Chrome (this is the Webkit rendering engine). Therefore, the display is generally similar to that proposed by Safari and Chrome.

And mobile browsers support most of the latest features of HTML and CSS. In addition, the system update automated mobile guarantees that users will most often the latest versions.

Please understand that differences exist between these different mobile browsers and it is advisable to test these devices on its site too! In particular, the screen is much narrower, it will verify that your site displays correctly.

The tablets are equipped with the same browser, the screen is just larger. Thus, the iPad comes with Safari Mobile.

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