Term of the Moment
laws
Definition: browser compatibility
The ability of a Web browser to effectively display the HTML code and execute the scripts on Web pages. The changes in HTML features since the mid-1990s, along with the versions of JavaScript and Java languages, combined with the differences between the Web browsers, created several versions that website developers had to deal with. At one time, sites might announce they worked best with Internet Explorer or the earlier Netscape Navigator. Today, if a website is coded with the latest HTML and JavaScript versions, all current browsers will render the page the same.
All Those Versions
BrowserHawk is software (JavaBean or COM component) that a Web server application can execute to provide it with all the capabilities of the specific Web browser in use (Which HTML version? Does it support XML, style sheets?, etc.). By extracting information from the browser and using a database of features, BrowserHawk enables websites to deliver the properly formatted page to the user. (website image courtesy of cyScape, Inc.)