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> the native APIs builtin to browsers have a tendency to shift every few years The web platform is incredibly backwards compatible; I'm having trouble thinking
by jefftk 4y ago
> the native APIs builtin to browsers have a tendency to shift every few years
The web platform is incredibly backwards compatible; I'm having trouble thinking of any cases where they've dropped a format (which doesn't mean there aren't any!)
On the other hand, while the browsers generally ship with many codecs [1] the APIs for interacting with them are pretty terrible.
[1] https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Media/Formats/Audio_codecs https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Media/Formats/A...
- Turing_Machine 4y ago> I'm having trouble thinking of any cases where they've dropped a format Flash?
- jefftk 4y agoFlash was a plugin, not a "native API built into browsers".
- Turing_Machine 4y agoA distinction with no difference. Flash used to run on every standard browser. Now it doesn't exist.
- jefftk 4y agoIt's an important difference if you're trying to predict how browsers will behave in the future. They're generally very conservative about removing platform features that people depend on, but this doesn't cover plugins.
- mattdesl 4y agoWebAudio has had a couple: e.g. user gesture requirement which has broken many websites, and even things as simple as using AudioContext to decode a WAV file to a buffer. Another one is script processor nodes. Beyond API shifts, there are constant regressions and incompatibilities across browser implementations, especially in rich media APIs like image, audio, and video.