Netmagazine recently posted reviews of new tools for web development:
See the Netmagazine article for reviews and more.
I redesigned karljones.com using responsive web design* principles, with three different layouts based on browser width:
Each of the three sizes also has CSS for different font sizes, the idea being a page that reshapes itself to look good on any given device.
Try it: on a desktop browser, watch the sidebar collapse into the main column, then disappear altogether, as you drag the browser narrower. Better yet, compare a desktop browser and a mobile device browser, see the difference.
This is a start — an improvement on life before media queries — but only an imperfect and temporary solution to a long-standing (and fast-evolving) problem.
The idea of “write once, display anywhere” asks too much of media queries and CSS, much the same way that the Holy Grail asks too much of knights-errant.
What we really desire, of course, is a Brass Head — an “automaton … reputed to be able to answer any question.”
Alas, “reputed” is ever the rub, and answering “any question” exceeds our current technology. “Indistinguishable from magic” will have to wait for another day.
–KJ
* By “responsive web design” (a fashionable term, open to some degree of interpretation) I mean media queries and other CSS rules. See also Wikipedia:
Browser detection and feature detection: a brief survey of libraries and techniques.
“Modernizr is a JavaScript library that detects HTML5 and CSS3 features in the user’s browser.”
Taking Advantage of HTML5 and CSS3 with Modernizr
has.js – “Pure feature detection library, a la carte style.”
Detector is a simple, PHP- and JavaScript-based browser- and feature-detection library that can adapt to new devices & browsers on its own without the need to pull from a central database of browser information.
Plenty of lively discussion — as usual — at Stack Overflow:
JavaScript: Detecting browser library function – does one exist?
JavaScript libraries to detect browser capabilities/plug-ins
Library to detect and parse browser information
Browser detection versus feature detection
How do I redirect my client to a different page according to their browser?
Need a good JS browser detection library but not JQuery
Browser detection in JavaScript libraries
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