DocumentCode :
1436644
Title :
Nifty technology and nonconformance: the Web in crisis
Author :
Zelnick, Nate
Author_Institution :
Allaire Corp., USA
Volume :
31
Issue :
10
fYear :
1998
fDate :
10/1/1998 12:00:00 AM
Firstpage :
115
Abstract :
The near parity between Microsoft´s Internet Explorer and Netscape´s Navigator is bringing what had been merely a developers´ annoyance firmly into the realm of disaster. The problem is a relatively familiar one: nonconformance or incomplete implementation of standards makes building sophisticated Web pages that work across browsers a difficult and expensive job. Because Web developers have to spend extra time and effort working around quirks in different implementations, they almost always have to privilege general functionality over technological enhancements. Just trying to get pages to look the same across browsers by following the Cascading Style Sheet Level 1 (CSS1) standard-a W3C recommendation finished nearly two years ago (1996)-requires intimate knowledge of the peculiarities of each version of each browser on each platform. IE 4 on Windows, for example, supports about 80 percent of CSS1 and about the same amount on Macintosh, but not the same 80 percent. Navigator 4 supports a little less of CSS1 on both Windows and Macintosh, but again not the same subset and not in the same way. And CSS is just the tip of the iceberg
Keywords :
Internet; electronic publishing; online front-ends; standards; CSS1; Cascading Style Sheet Level 1; IE 4; Internet Explorer; Netscape Navigator; W3C recommendation; Web developers; Web pages; browsers; general functionality; incomplete implementation; nonconformance; standards; technological enhancements; Cascading style sheets; Computer aided manufacturing; Computer hacking; Computer science; HTML; Internet; Java; Markup languages; Navigation; XML;
fLanguage :
English
Journal_Title :
Computer
Publisher :
ieee
ISSN :
0018-9162
Type :
jour
DOI :
10.1109/2.722300
Filename :
722300
Link To Document :
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