browser testing? Which to use when developing

Browser testing

[Matthew1980]

Hello people,

Which is the most problematic browser to use to bench test code on? And is it worth adding text only browsers to see how the site renders in versions like lynx, as I know a few die hard linux/lynx people out there.

Currently I just use FF and opera, chrome and IE6&7, I'm sure that some of these browsers use the same rendering engine, but for me I (for the time being) just use FF to test everything out on. Most people I talk to say that FF is the programmers choice, but I'm not too sure, especially as FF seems to be getting buggy when used in conjunction with JRE (not sure of version) text not entered quickly enough, having to wait for the cursor to catch up with what I entered etc.

So I guess what I am asking is for advice to see what the general consensus is for browser testing, and whether it matters what the platform is too, though I doubt that has much impact, I could be wrong, I don't use linux - I tried, but failed..

Any suggestions welcome, there may even be a thread I havn't seen yet ;-p

Cheers,

MRb

[tedster]

If you only care about visual appearance, I'd say develop with one of the most standards-complaint browsers like FireFox, and then check the other big market share browsers to see if they need a tweak or two. Depending on your market, you may also want to check on a mobile browser.

But if functionality of JavaScript matters for your site - then you need to look for more than visual rendering, and that's where things can get a bit dicey, unless you are only using the most standardized scripts.

When it comes to text browsers like Lynx - I usually can't be bothered. The closest I come is turning off images and styles for one quick check of the page template as I develop it - which is usually in Opera.

[drhowarddrfine]

IE is 12 years behind all other browsers in modern standards and compliance. Incompetent at best, it can never be trusted to do anything right. Therefore, as tedster said, use ANY other browser. Then double check in another to be sure. Then look to see if/when IE screws things up. At least you'll know your markup is working correctly as you try and figure out what hack to apply to fix IE.

Lynx can really show you how well structured your site is.

I don't do Java so don't know about any JRE problems. You might look into whether you can dump IE6 testing. I charge extra for it. You don't mention IE8. That needs to be there.

I've grown accustomed to using web dev tools on Firefox but Opera and webkit (Chrome and Safari) are better for checking CSS and XML. Firefox doesn't fail but it tends to pass things through that would burp on Opera (specifically when I'm doing XML work).

[bizminder]

IE is way too lagging behind. The platform would not be the problem. If you are testing beyond the appearence of your site then it is recommended that you test on FF and chrome. If you are using any of the web tools then stick on to FF.

[tangor]

I'd say it depends on needs and coding style. I keep things pretty simple, and my editor of choice is Homesite 4.0 (which uses IE5-6 as it's rendering engine). I can, of course, use external browsers, and do when necessary. That said, I do not code for IE6 so there's been no problems.

[phranque]

there could be some information relevant to your question in this current home page discussion:Cross browser support: Which ones do I need to check? [webmasterworld.com]