A simple question that's NOT about design problems

Just a test on how CSS developers think

[nightva]

When I, as a CSS developer, say:

"I'm going to need to hack IE to make this work."

What comes to your mind as the meaning behind that statement?

Nathan

[benihana]

first thought is:

your going to need to hack IE to make this work

which makes perfect sense to me, but obviously your not going to hack internet explorer....

then a list of possible hacks and their targets, then wondering if there is a way to do it differently to avoid the hacks.

:)

[vinzzz]

if u can show me a nice design, which renders perfectly in IE and all other browsers without any hack, ill donate you a big amount of money...

i cant say enough: please code for FF, and put in hacks for IE

[nightva]

Ok, very interesting replies.

Does that statement make you think I'm going to hack the Internet Explorer browser program?

OR

I'm going to include hacks into my CSS to help IE render the style rules correctly?

And my secondary question was...Are only CSS developers going to know the difference in meaning?

Nathan

[DrDoc]

if u can show me a nice design, which renders perfectly in IE and all other browsers without any hack, ill donate you a big amount of money...

I'll take that challenge ;)

hack IE

I think we need to be careful with exactly how we say that... True, only those that know CSS to a higher grade than just mere "familiarity" are truly going understand what that statement means, how how various hacks are necessary (and, in fact the very best solution) for a nice looking layout.

However, there are lots of workarounds that are not really "hacks", strictly speaking. Plus, the word "hack" usually has a negative ring to it. Personally, I find it better to say "tweak for IE", or "adjust for IE"...

Regardless, it is possible to create a nice design that renders perfectly in IE and "all other browsers" (when that phrase means a recent version of Mozilla/Opera/Safari type browsers) without resorting to any hacks or workarounds... Pure and valid CSS :)

[createErrorMsg]

Are only CSS developers going to know the difference in meaning?

Yes. Why would anyone else know the difference, or possibly care? Tell that line to some people and they'll start looking for the axe. It's a purely interest-specific statement (aka, jargon).

The only reasonable way you can expect someone to know what "hack IE" means is if they've got some compelling reason to have been exposed to and/or involved in cross-browser css-p programming.