Properly Using JavaScript Object Detection

The development of JavaScript especially on its use on Ajax is very remarkable. The support that comes from different software companies is remarkable. You can tell the support of different developers as well through the number of frameworks as well as websites dedicated to Ajax.

When Ajax was first released in 2005, it was thought to be a very difficult programming language, but with the help of frameworks, entry level developers could easily build an Ajax based application.

However, the development of JavaScript is not countered by browsers which have become the platform for Ajax based applications. Browser updates are not as fast as Ajax is developing. Although we already have Firefox on its v. 3, there are still things that developers wish browser would do.

IE is even more terrible in handling Ajax applications. We are still waiting for the latest version of IE which is supposed to unify coding. But the IE 8 is still in beta and the stable release could still be months away. Because of the difference in interpretation of Ajax applications between browsers, developers will have a hard time building an application.

If you are developing an Ajax application now, consider using Object Detection to ensure browser compatibility. Instead of building another application for a specific browser, you can let your application “sniff” for the specific objects that could be implemented.

Object detection is basically a feature that a developer could add through coding to their application. Instead of browser detection which could be slower, developers could use object detection to effectively load the Ajax based website without any fear of errors.

Basically, developers would just have to create syntax that prompts the application to detect the corresponding object for the browser. The syntax would usually go this way:

if (document.images) {
    // command
}

We use images since most objects that will be loaded in an Ajax application will actually be this type.

Moving further, each object would need to have properties as well as methods. The properties and methods would usually go with the object. This means that you are building a separate method for another browser with specific sets of properties.

As a developer the challenge you would face in using this technique is that you will be forced to develop an extended version of your application. That means more time for developing an Ajax based application.

Another concern for developers in using object detection is with the use of frameworks. If you are not familiar with JavaScript and decide to use a framework, you can forget about object detection. Usually, developers who uses framework will just have to resort in building an application without object detection.

On the other hand, JavaScript developers should be able to use object detection if only they are familiar with the objects. Instead of providing ease to the users, objects that are not properly tagged with properties and methods would end up in error. That is why careful planning especially in selecting methods is important in building an Ajax based application.