[Javascript] targeting DOM-aware browsers [WAS: setting select drop selectedIndex]

[Paul Novitski]

At 12:21 PM 8/2/2006, Peter Brunone wrote:
>    Why would you want it to die just because the browser isn't up 
> to date, when there are perfectly valid methods for finding the 
> control through the form object?


Peter,

You're right.  Of course anyone wanting to target pre-DOM browsers 
will want to include pre-DOM syntax.  If all you're doing is pointing 
to a form element's properties, you don't need the DOM.  However, I 
was assuming that the original poster's script would accomplish much 
more and would likely require DOM methods before it was done.  My 
scripts nearly always do.  If a script is going to need the DOM, it 
might as well boot out the older browsers from the beginning [at 
least from the DOM sections of code].

When I first started writing JavaScript several years ago, I took 
pains to support both DOM and non-DOM browsers.  Today, though, I 
find it much faster & easier to code only using the DOM, ignoring the 
older conventions.  Perhaps that confession convicts me as a slacker, 
but I am so overloaded with programming work that streamlining my 
coding practices has a significant effect on my quality of 
life.  I'll defend my current habit of targeting only DOM-aware 
browsers with just this point:

My take on the stats is that the population of browsers that aren't 
DOM-aware (< 4%?) is even smaller than the number of DOM-aware 
browsers that have JavaScript turned off (about 7%).

See for example:
         http://www.thecounter.com/stats/2006/July/browser.php
compared to:
         http://www.thecounter.com/stats/2006/July/javas.php

I endeavor to write only non-obtrusive JavaScript these days, so my 
pages remain functional in the absence of JS.  People using 
non-DOM-aware or non-JS-enabled browsers might experience less speed 
-- they'll have to wait for a server round-trip instead of getting 
instant validation -- or fewer bells & whistles, but they'll 
experience a perfectly valid & usable page.  Working in this way 
reduces my sense of obligation to target legacy browsers.

If you have an argument to the contrary, I'm all ears.

Regards,
Paul