Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference

Chapter 2. Cross-Platform Compromises

Declaring support for industry standards is a noble act. But when each web browser maker is also out to put its stamp on the details of still-evolving standards, it’s easy to see how a new browser release can embody ideas and extensions to standards that are not available in other browsers. With so many standards efforts related to Dynamic HTML in play at the release of both Netscape Navigator 4 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 4, implementation differences were bound to occur. This chapter provides an overview of each browser’s approach to DHTML. It also explores some strategies that you might use for DHTML applications that must run identically on Navigator and Internet Explorer.

What Is a Platform?

The term platform has multiple meanings in web application circles, depending on how you slice the computing world. Typically, a platform denotes any hardware and/or software system that forms the basis for further product development. Operating system developers regard each microprocessor family as a platform (Pentium, PowerPC, or SPARC CPUs, for example); desktop computer application developers treat the operating system as the platform (Win16, Windows 95/NT, MacOS8, Unix, Linux, and the rest); peripherals makers perceive a combination of hardware and operating system as the platform (for example, a Wintel machine or a Macintosh).

The de facto acceptance of the web protocols, such as HTTP, means that a web application developer doesn’t have ...