4 ms·

Improving Chromium's browser compatibility in 2020

91 points by migueldemoura 6y ago

The_rationalist 6y ago
Microsoft bringing CSS subgrid support to chromium is a beautiful example of synergetic collaboration! I hope mozilla take notes.
- Izkata 6y ago
  You're probably being downvoted because Firefox has already had subgrid for 6 months (since version 71).
  - esperent 6y ago
    It's probably because web devs have experienced years of pain due to MS holding back the web platform. They've made some positive changes recently but it'll take them a lot more to atone for past mistakes.
sroussey 6y ago
Here is an example of Google’s homepage not rendering correctly in Chrome: https://twitter.com/sroussey/status/1273341472398381056?s=21 https://twitter.com/sroussey/status/1273341472398381056?s=21 Really, if they have these kinds of problems, then the rest of us... :/
- esprehn 6y ago
  I've seen that one as well (and tagged a rendering lead on Chrome on Twitter just now). Thankfully it's a painting artifact and not a layout/behavior issue, likely because the invalidations are not accounting for the way shadows expand the layer bounds in some situations. When finding things like this file bugs at https://crbug.com/new https://crbug.com/new
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
I’m glad to see some traction, finally, for improving <input> elements. They’re the source of my current pains: * Still no real combobox. <datalist> is only a half-way solution. * <optgroup> should be nestable - rarely do things fit into only 2 levels of depth. * Biggest pain of all: Radio-button events.
- djxfade 6y ago
  And not all browsers support basic features like Datepickers etc. (I'm looking at you Safari)
  - remus 6y ago
    > And not all browsers support basic features like Datepickers etc. (I'm looking at you Safari) This is a real pet peeve of mine. Perhaps there is some good reason, but as far as I can tell date pickers work well in chrome and firefox, and not having one in safari means you need to add javascript to your page and/or do some nasty server side user agent sniffing stuff to try and make sense of dates.
    - DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
      It's somewhat ironic (moronic?) that Apple was the first to add support for `<input type="date" />` in Mobile Safari for the iPhone almost a decade ago - so it's a complete mystery why macOS Safari doesn't have this feature. Here's the official WebKit Bugzilla ticket for `<input type="date" />`: https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=119175 https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=119175 Here's Apple's Radar entry: rdar://problem/14567780 (I don't have access to Radar - can someone who does please let us know what the latest update is?) Right now we use a quick-and-dirty date polyfill for macOS Safari - though more recently our GA stats show that 90% of our macOS users are using Chrome anyway which supports date inputs natively so for our lesser-used pages and areas I might forget to add the polyfill and we won't hear any complaints.
      - DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
polskibus 6y ago
I hope they fix chromium's weird subpixel bugs like this one: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=717469#c_ts1513250807 https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=717469...
- bfgeek 6y ago
  We are in the process of revamping our table layout code at the moment - this should remove subpixel issues like this. Our master bug for these subpixel issues is: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=377847 https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=377847 We expect it'll be ready for testing in a few months. However we expect that it'll be a bumpy rolling this out as table layout has a long history, and isn't exactly well defined :). - Ian
  - polskibus 6y ago
    Please make a large announcement when you are ready to get it to testing on a wider scale. I'd rather not miss it, and prepare accordingly.
    - bfgeek 6y ago
      Will do - we'll make some noise when ready. - Ian
jake_morrison 6y ago
The compatible problem is Microsoft and Safari, not Chromium and Firefox. I run a web development agency, and supporting the limitations IE has always been a significant cost and challenge. As the joke goes, "What is the definition of HTML5? If it works in IE, it's not HTML5". I have mixed feelings about Microsoft giving up on their browser. On the one hand, it will make things more compatible and reduce effort for us. On the other, it's one step closer to a monoculture controlled by Google. I would prefer that Microsoft simply get their shit together and make a good browser.

91 points by migueldemoura 6y ago

Microsoft bringing CSS subgrid support to chromium is a beautiful example of synergetic collaboration! I hope mozilla take notes.

Izkata 6y ago
You're probably being downvoted because Firefox has already had subgrid for 6 months (since version 71).
- esperent 6y ago
  It's probably because web devs have experienced years of pain due to MS holding back the web platform. They've made some positive changes recently but it'll take them a lot more to atone for past mistakes.

sroussey 6y ago

Here is an example of Google’s homepage not rendering correctly in Chrome: https://twitter.com/sroussey/status/1273341472398381056?s=21 https://twitter.com/sroussey/status/1273341472398381056?s=21 Really, if they have these kinds of problems, then the rest of us... :/

esprehn 6y ago
I've seen that one as well (and tagged a rendering lead on Chrome on Twitter just now). Thankfully it's a painting artifact and not a layout/behavior issue, likely because the invalidations are not accounting for the way shadows expand the layer bounds in some situations. When finding things like this file bugs at https://crbug.com/new https://crbug.com/new

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

DaiPlusPlus 6y ago

I’m glad to see some traction, finally, for improving <input> elements. They’re the source of my current pains: * Still no real combobox. <datalist> is only a half-way solution. * <optgroup> should be nestable - rarely do things fit into only 2 levels of depth. * Biggest pain of all: Radio-button events.

djxfade 6y ago
And not all browsers support basic features like Datepickers etc. (I'm looking at you Safari)
- remus 6y ago
  > And not all browsers support basic features like Datepickers etc. (I'm looking at you Safari) This is a real pet peeve of mine. Perhaps there is some good reason, but as far as I can tell date pickers work well in chrome and firefox, and not having one in safari means you need to add javascript to your page and/or do some nasty server side user agent sniffing stuff to try and make sense of dates.
  - DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
    It's somewhat ironic (moronic?) that Apple was the first to add support for `<input type="date" />` in Mobile Safari for the iPhone almost a decade ago - so it's a complete mystery why macOS Safari doesn't have this feature. Here's the official WebKit Bugzilla ticket for `<input type="date" />`: https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=119175 https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=119175 Here's Apple's Radar entry: rdar://problem/14567780 (I don't have access to Radar - can someone who does please let us know what the latest update is?) Right now we use a quick-and-dirty date polyfill for macOS Safari - though more recently our GA stats show that 90% of our macOS users are using Chrome anyway which supports date inputs natively so for our lesser-used pages and areas I might forget to add the polyfill and we won't hear any complaints.
    - DaiPlusPlus 6y ago

polskibus 6y ago

I hope they fix chromium's weird subpixel bugs like this one: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=717469#c_ts1513250807 https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=717469...

bfgeek 6y ago
We are in the process of revamping our table layout code at the moment - this should remove subpixel issues like this. Our master bug for these subpixel issues is: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=377847 https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=377847 We expect it'll be ready for testing in a few months. However we expect that it'll be a bumpy rolling this out as table layout has a long history, and isn't exactly well defined :). - Ian
- polskibus 6y ago
  Please make a large announcement when you are ready to get it to testing on a wider scale. I'd rather not miss it, and prepare accordingly.
  - bfgeek 6y ago
    Will do - we'll make some noise when ready. - Ian

jake_morrison 6y ago

The compatible problem is Microsoft and Safari, not Chromium and Firefox. I run a web development agency, and supporting the limitations IE has always been a significant cost and challenge. As the joke goes, "What is the definition of HTML5? If it works in IE, it's not HTML5". I have mixed feelings about Microsoft giving up on their browser. On the one hand, it will make things more compatible and reduce effort for us. On the other, it's one step closer to a monoculture controlled by Google. I would prefer that Microsoft simply get their shit together and make a good browser.