Unlocking Cross Browser Capabilities in Ajax

One of the main challenges in building an Ajax based application is browser incompatibility. In one area we have Mozilla who have been the preferred platform for developers because of its ability for customization. Being an open-source, the potential of Mozilla to provide above and beyond experience will always be there.

On the other hand we have IE, the world’s most popular browser. If you base the browser’s performance on its users, IE would be the clear cut winner with more than ¾ of the world’s internet users use only IE. Developers could go with Mozilla and develop good looking RIA or developers could prefer IE and be limited with the restricted use of XHR (XMLHttpRequest). Instead of choosing one, developers have opted to build two versions so that each browser could access the website.

Building From the Beginning

Developing Ajax based applications is never easy. Aside from browser incompatibilities, browser and user’s security may not be optimized which could become the gateway for different types of attacks.

That is why it is important for developers to know which part of the application should be built first.

Basically there are two types of functions that could be integrated in Ajax: the essential functions and non-essential functions. The essential functions refer to functions that will promote the website due to its efficiency. Non-essential functions on the other hand refer to the design and overall look of the website.

Developers should identify which functions could be labeled as essential functions. Once they have done the labeling, developers should apply document.evaluate to these functions. With the help of this simple command, developers are able to tell their application to “sniff” the browser first before proceeding with the appropriate data and other sets of functions. The non-essential functions should have commands that are related to Boolean.

For example, the non-essential functions (such as color of the background) should be processed with document.createelement. Since the background is not really a function and could never be actively used, the Ajax based application will label the non-essential functions for security reasons. It could be done with the help of document.createelement. The function identifies the function and creates a corresponding element. For proper evaluate.

After the non-essential and essential functions have been determined for execution, they would still have to back to the original idea. Since every function has been evaluated especially in execution, developers could also use this type of evaluation and determine the compatible browser.

Developers might still end up in building two versions of browsers. But the significant change in execution and error is the handling in building an Ajax based application. It’s supposed to be really easy but it takes special skills to master the technique.

The good thing about this cross-browser method is that you should place aside your difference and build two versions. Eventually, the company would just prefer which type of browser to use. If you have a properly coded Ajax based application, you’ll be able to build a highly effective Ajax based application – without cursing.