Cross Browser JavaScript Debugging (Moz/IE)

[optimistx]

Re: Cross Browser JavaScript Debugging (Moz/IE)

Richard Cornford wrote:
[color=blue]
> You love wheeling out arbitrary statistics. The only logical way of
> dealing with the impossibility of accurately discriminating between web
> browsers (and/or browser versions) is to seek to avoid the need to do so
> at all.
>
> As techniques exist that remove the need to identify browsers it makes
> more sense to learn and refine those then to spend time an effort
> failing to achieve the impossible (no matter how close your
> head-in-the-sand attitude may leave you believing you could get).
>
> Richard.
>
>[/color]

It is possible to find out the statistical distribution , which kind of
browsers a group of internet users have. One could pick a random sample
of the group, and verbally _ask_ each member of the sample

One could compare the procedure applied when estimating the shares of
different parties in Parlament election (a country with many parties).
The researcher picks randomly about 1000 persons to interview and the
results are to be read in newspapers, with estimated error margins.

Is there such research results about browsers made public somewhere?

Cross browser coding is a Good Thing. Even better would be, if there
were tools for any Javascritp beginner to start coding without first
becoming a member of High Priesthood Guru Team And Possessor Of Almost
Secret Information. (if the information is scattered in zillion places,
it is equivivalent of secret info in practice).

The priests might be a bit reluctant to make themselves unnecessary: why
should newcomers be able to learn in some hours everything that the
priest had to learn during many years? The magic art would no more be
magic, fascinating , challenging.

[Richard Cornford]

Re: Cross Browser JavaScript Debugging (Moz/IE)

optimistx wrote:
<snip>[color=blue]
> It is possible to find out the statistical distribution , which kind
> of browsers a group of internet users have. One could pick a random
> sample of the group, and verbally _ask_ each member of the sample[/color]

A requirement when deriving statistics from a sample is that the sample
be representative. So beyond the logistic problems of sampling a
globally distributed population there is also the problem of determining
that the sample taken is representative. Which itself would require the
availability of general data about Internet users, and the Internet does
not lend itself to the gathering of that sort of information.

Asking people which browsers they use will not tell you which UA headers
those browsers send, and most users would not be aware of that
particular detail. The kind of browsers used would tell you no more than
their default UA strings and their potential to spoof other browsers.

But in a world where some people speak of "having the Internet on their
computer", where some browsers are a customised UIs layered over another
browser and browsers embedded on small devices may not give the user any
indication of what browser is being used (just a way of starting it),
will asking a representative sample of internet users which browsers
they use reveal even that information?
[color=blue]
> One could compare the procedure applied when estimating the shares of
> different parties in Parlament election (a country with many parties).
> The researcher picks randomly about 1000 persons[/color]

I don't think you will find that the selection is not actually random.
[color=blue]
> to interview and the results are to be read in
> newspapers, with estimated error margins.[/color]

Thinking in terms of estimated error margins does not lend itself to
reliable software creation. Better to look for criteria that produce
boolean results for decision making in computer code.
[color=blue]
> Is there such research results about browsers made public somewhere?[/color]
<snip>

No.

Richard.