Hi Martin, 1. Coding methodology ------------------------------- I would recommend coding to standards, but checking across as many browsers as possible throughout the process of building layouts. The keys are (a) use as many browsers as possible, (b) check often and (c ) deal with layout issues as they arise:
A. Use as many browsers as possible If you use one main browser for building, and only check at the end, you may find part or an entire layout is broken in another browser. The more browsers you test on, the less likely you are to come across problems later in the process. Having said that, recent versions of Mozilla, Opera, Safari and Firebird are all very standards compliant, so checking against these browsers is generally a very simple process. B. Check often The key to avoiding frustration is to do a step, then test. This avoids backtracking or detailed bug hunting further down the track. This article explains the process: http://www.maxdesign.com.au/presentation/process/ C. Layout issues Layout issue can be dealt with in three main ways: - if the problem is a minor discrepancy, you may decide that it is an acceptable variation in a particular browser. - if it is a major issue, you may have to decide between workarounds and hacks. I would always go for workarounds if at all possible as they are less likely to come back and haunt you in the future. Of course, sometimes this is impossible. Dealing with layout issues is a mindset thing. Small variations in the main browsers are acceptable if your code is also more accessible for the other devices (printers, screen readers, hand helds, text readers, browsers with images off etc). John Allsopp has a great article on this: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/dao/ 2. Most compliant browser? ------------------------------- Recent versions of Opera, Mozilla, Firebird, Safari are all stable and reliable. However, I wouldn't be able to tell you which browser is most compliant. Does it really matter if one browser is fractionally more compliant than another? If you move away from the theory of testing in one browser, then the question becomes unimportant. my 2 cents :) Russ > Hello List, > > This may seen OT, but the underlying question is valid :~) > > I'm using Homesite+ to code, and want to configure the internal browser to > Mozilla, from the default ie rendering engine, but not sure about it... > > 1. So, IYHOs, > Is it better to code, then check, code some more, then check again, > using a much more standards- > compliant browser like Mozilla, or go with ie, then tweak for the > rest? > > 2. Is Mozilla more standards-complaint than the rest, or should I rely on > Opera first? > > A. Which browser (which version too), in order of compliance, > rate first in standards. > Is my list accurate: > > a. Mozilla builds (1.5, 1.7b, etc) > b. Mozilla Firebird 0.7 > c. Mozilla Firefox 0.8 > d. Opera > e. Netscape > f. IE > ***************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help *****************************************************
