Features vs compatibility: Google Chrome team promises more 'rigour', but what does that mean?
(2020/06/22)
- Reference: 1592856044
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/06/22/features_vs_compatibility_google_chrome/
- Source link:
A software engineer in the Google Chrome team has spoken about inconsistency in feature support across different web browsers, promising a "more compatible 2021".
In a [1]recent post , Google’s Stephen McGruer referred to a couple of Mozilla developer surveys, including the [2]Developer Needs Assessment , out late last year, which stated that: “In the full list of needs, browser compatibility was the dominant theme.”
While having to support IE11 was listed as the biggest developer frustration, the problem will not be solved as usage of Microsoft’s pre-Edge browser gradually reduces. Developers still find themselves “avoiding or removing a feature that doesn’t work across browsers”, and struggle with “making a design look/work across browsers.”
A March 2020 follow-up survey of 3,000 web developers uncovered some specifics about the compatibility issues, such as scrolling. Fixing a page so that it does not scroll on mobile as well as desktop browsers is a hassle. There is also, notes McGruer, “a lack of consistency in input-related events.”
Another issue is [3]Flexbox which is intended to be ideal for responsive layouts, but has inconsistent cross-browser support; and form controls which, said McGruer, are hard to style consistently and “a compatibility pain for developers” despite [4]recent work on updating them.
CSS Grid is also an issue, with Chromium (the browser engine used by Chrome and many others including Microsoft Edge) still not supporting subgrid elements. The result is that it is all too easy to demonstrate a [5]div that looks different in every browser .
And the lion lays with the... artist previously known as lion
Google dominates the browser space, thanks to the wide availability of Chrome, its promotion seemingly whenever you visit a Google site using a different browser, and because it is the default in Android. Latest global stats from [6]Statcounter give Chrome 63.91 per cent of the worldwide market, followed by Apple Safari at 18.2 per cent and Mozilla Firefox at 4.39 per cent. Does that mean Google has less incentive to be compatible with other browsers?
Chrome’s high market share stokes [7]fears of browser monoculture, heightened when Microsoft abandoned its home-grown Edge browser in favour of building on Chromium. McGruer countered that he believes multiple implementations provide a “guarding factor against architectural mistakes that can occur when one blurs a platform (the web) and an implementation (a single browser).”
There is an argument that Microsoft’s shift to Chromium was good for web standards. The most notable thing about McGruer’s post, perhaps, is not that he talks about Flexbox and CSS grids, but the number of times Microsoft gets a mention.
Check out what Microsoft is doing with the Virtual Keyboard API, he said. Look at what the Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome teams have done to refresh form styles. And then, “I'm excited to share that a team at Microsoft Edge are working on rearchitecting Chromium's Grid support to use the new LayoutNG engine.” This is the real news: that Microsoft and Google are collaborating.
McGruer also stated that compatibility is moving up Google’s agenda, though he worded it in such a way that little is promised. “In Chrome we strongly believe in moving the web forward, and in shipping new features that bring benefits to users and developers,” he said. “But it is clear from the MDN Browser Compatibility Survey that some developers have concerns about how this may impact compatibility. We aren't going to stop moving the web forward, but we are planning to be more rigorous in how we approach it and in how we communicate about compatibility. Look out for more on this soon.”
A difficulty for the industry in sustaining different independent browser implementations is not only the challenge of competing with Google, but also the cost of development, especially as no one will pay for a browser. Today in browser engines there is Chromium, there is WebKit, sustained by Apple for use in Safari, and there is Gecko and its likely successor Servo, from Mozilla, which has [8]“an issue of survival.” .
Developers will welcome Google’s move towards compatibility but the diversity of browser implementations remains under threat. This threat is merely mitigated, not removed, by the company's willingness to collaborate in the Chromium project. ®
Sponsored: [9]Security Features of Connect for Anthos
[1] https://blog.chromium.org/2020/06/improving-chromiums-browser.html
[2] https://mdn-web-dna.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/MDN-Web-DNA-Report-2019.pdf
[3] https://www.w3.org/TR/css-flexbox-1/
[4] https://blog.chromium.org/2020/03/updates-to-form-controls-and-focus.html
[5] https://codepen.io/MartijnCuppens/pen/MXojmw
[6] https://gs.statcounter.com/
[7] https://m.signalvnoise.com/celebrate-the-web-by-using-another-browser-than-googles-chrome/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2020/02/20/mozilla_eu_internet_regulation/
[9] https://go.theregister.com/tl/1956/-8474/security-features-of-connect-for-anthos?td=wptl1956
In a [1]recent post , Google’s Stephen McGruer referred to a couple of Mozilla developer surveys, including the [2]Developer Needs Assessment , out late last year, which stated that: “In the full list of needs, browser compatibility was the dominant theme.”
While having to support IE11 was listed as the biggest developer frustration, the problem will not be solved as usage of Microsoft’s pre-Edge browser gradually reduces. Developers still find themselves “avoiding or removing a feature that doesn’t work across browsers”, and struggle with “making a design look/work across browsers.”
A March 2020 follow-up survey of 3,000 web developers uncovered some specifics about the compatibility issues, such as scrolling. Fixing a page so that it does not scroll on mobile as well as desktop browsers is a hassle. There is also, notes McGruer, “a lack of consistency in input-related events.”
Another issue is [3]Flexbox which is intended to be ideal for responsive layouts, but has inconsistent cross-browser support; and form controls which, said McGruer, are hard to style consistently and “a compatibility pain for developers” despite [4]recent work on updating them.
CSS Grid is also an issue, with Chromium (the browser engine used by Chrome and many others including Microsoft Edge) still not supporting subgrid elements. The result is that it is all too easy to demonstrate a [5]div that looks different in every browser .
And the lion lays with the... artist previously known as lion
Google dominates the browser space, thanks to the wide availability of Chrome, its promotion seemingly whenever you visit a Google site using a different browser, and because it is the default in Android. Latest global stats from [6]Statcounter give Chrome 63.91 per cent of the worldwide market, followed by Apple Safari at 18.2 per cent and Mozilla Firefox at 4.39 per cent. Does that mean Google has less incentive to be compatible with other browsers?
Chrome’s high market share stokes [7]fears of browser monoculture, heightened when Microsoft abandoned its home-grown Edge browser in favour of building on Chromium. McGruer countered that he believes multiple implementations provide a “guarding factor against architectural mistakes that can occur when one blurs a platform (the web) and an implementation (a single browser).”
There is an argument that Microsoft’s shift to Chromium was good for web standards. The most notable thing about McGruer’s post, perhaps, is not that he talks about Flexbox and CSS grids, but the number of times Microsoft gets a mention.
Check out what Microsoft is doing with the Virtual Keyboard API, he said. Look at what the Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome teams have done to refresh form styles. And then, “I'm excited to share that a team at Microsoft Edge are working on rearchitecting Chromium's Grid support to use the new LayoutNG engine.” This is the real news: that Microsoft and Google are collaborating.
McGruer also stated that compatibility is moving up Google’s agenda, though he worded it in such a way that little is promised. “In Chrome we strongly believe in moving the web forward, and in shipping new features that bring benefits to users and developers,” he said. “But it is clear from the MDN Browser Compatibility Survey that some developers have concerns about how this may impact compatibility. We aren't going to stop moving the web forward, but we are planning to be more rigorous in how we approach it and in how we communicate about compatibility. Look out for more on this soon.”
A difficulty for the industry in sustaining different independent browser implementations is not only the challenge of competing with Google, but also the cost of development, especially as no one will pay for a browser. Today in browser engines there is Chromium, there is WebKit, sustained by Apple for use in Safari, and there is Gecko and its likely successor Servo, from Mozilla, which has [8]“an issue of survival.” .
Developers will welcome Google’s move towards compatibility but the diversity of browser implementations remains under threat. This threat is merely mitigated, not removed, by the company's willingness to collaborate in the Chromium project. ®
Sponsored: [9]Security Features of Connect for Anthos
[1] https://blog.chromium.org/2020/06/improving-chromiums-browser.html
[2] https://mdn-web-dna.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/MDN-Web-DNA-Report-2019.pdf
[3] https://www.w3.org/TR/css-flexbox-1/
[4] https://blog.chromium.org/2020/03/updates-to-form-controls-and-focus.html
[5] https://codepen.io/MartijnCuppens/pen/MXojmw
[6] https://gs.statcounter.com/
[7] https://m.signalvnoise.com/celebrate-the-web-by-using-another-browser-than-googles-chrome/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2020/02/20/mozilla_eu_internet_regulation/
[9] https://go.theregister.com/tl/1956/-8474/security-features-of-connect-for-anthos?td=wptl1956
RE: 3rd browser did we
John Miles
We had Opera with its own engine until 2013 when it became something based on Chrome
Lorribot
Google, like Microsoft before it, has its own requirements from the browser and thus its own development agenda.
It has shown it cares little for standards unless supporting these enhances itself in someway. Its main aim is domininate and control or destroy any opposition.
However there some that are not rolling over and dying and some that have become the spy in the camp. An enemy within.
KarlKarl, there 300 browsers, but only 5 engines of any signifcance
Gecko (Mozilla), Blink (Chromium), Webkit (Safari, a fork of KHTML), Trident (IE) and EdgeHTML (MS edge)
Trident and EdgeHTML have effectively ceased development, which leaves three.
katrinab
Blink is a fork of Webkit.
When the KDE project said they intended to Konquer the world. Who would have guessed that their code would form the basis for pretty much all the browsers out there, including Microsoft’s?
"This is the real news: that Microsoft and Google are collaborating"
Pascal Monett
Satan and Beelzebub are going hand in hand. I'm not quite sure I'm reassured by this turn of events.
Meanwhile, Borkzilla's latest update installs Edge as default browser even if you had Chrome before. I wonder how long it's going to take Google to tap Borkzilla on the shoulder and say "knock it off" ?
We have Chrome and Firefox.
I don't think we ever did have a 3rd browser did we?