Question

I’m trying to use console.log to put some logging into the javascript side of my program. I noticed, though, that unless the dev console is open in IE, JS basically stops working when it hits console.log. This is a pain… it means I have to remove all the logging whenever I want to do a production build.

Aside from the obvious:

function DoSafeConsoleLog( parameters )
{
    if ( !$.browser.msie )
    {
         console.log( parameters ); 
    }
}

is there a good way to log javascript that is friendly to all major browsers?

EDIT:

Well, after looking at the duplicate post (oops) as well as considering the answers here, I’ve gotta side with just checking for the existence of console before calling. Even though I am loathe to have the extra markup, I would rather not step on the feet of future programmers who might want to use Firebug Lite to debug my code.

Answer 1

IE has its own console, and you wont want to override console if you’re using firebug lite. Just make sure that console exists when log gets called:

if (window.console) console.log('foo bar baz', fizz, buzz);

Better yet, use && to shortcut:

window.console && console.log('foo bar baz', fizz, buzz);