Question

Am curious why modern browsers allow switching off Javascript.

It’s so clear now that to do any substantial modern web application you need to integrate some high level of Javascript, why cant javascript be made an integral part of the browser? It becomes even more annoying especially when this option is OFF by default (IE!!)

My opinion is, it should be made a standard for all the browsers to have javascript option enabled by default.

What do you guys think?

Answer 1

I’m sure you’re just venting here, but being able to turn off javascript is a very good thing for many reasons both as a developer and otherwise:

• Makes it easier to debug problems with HTML and CSS
• Helps with a lot of privacy issues
• Can avoid malware and other security issues
• Speeds up the browser, reduces memory leaks, etc

Also, fwiw, there is no browser that ships with a default of javascript being off, IE included. Perhaps you’re dealing with a corporate installation with customized defaults?