I’m working especially with Java web applications (in which mostly with JSF, Java Server Faces). I’m less concerned with the rest of the technologies.
Since different web browsers function less or more differently from one another, any web application should be designed in such a way that it can be incorporated and executed in a defined way by most browsers (might not be all). Which points should be kept in mind to design a web application in such a way that it can function almost exactly on most browsers?
What are the major differences among different browsers which should be noted by web application developers?
you have to check all of these points befor developing web applications with any language…
Almost all web developers (ahem! – perhaps that should read “quite a lot of web developers”) are aware of the need to check how their site looks in a variety of browsers. How far you go obviously depends on the resources available – not everyone is in a position to check Windows, Mac, Unix and Linux platforms. The minimum test would probably be:
For some time I also recommended checking Netscape 4 as well, as it often produces radically different results from any other browser, and was very popular for a long time. However the number of users of this bug-ridden browser is now so small (under 0.1% and decreasing) that it can now probably safely be ignored.
Check printed pages
Print some of the pages on a normal printer (i.e. with a paper size of A4 or Letter) and check that they appear sensibly. Due to the somewhat limited formatting options available for printing, you probably can’t achieve an appearance comparable to a document produced by a word-processor, but you should at least be able to read the text easily, and not have lines running off the right-hand side of the page. It is truly extraordinary how many site authors fail to think of this most elementary of operations.
You should also consider using CSS to adjust the appearance of the page when printed. For example you could – probably should – suppress the printing of information which is not relevant to the printed page, such as navigation bars. This can be done using the “@media print” or “@import print” CSS features.
Some sites provide separate “printer friendly” versions of their pages, which the user can select and print. While this may occasionally be necessary as a last resort, it significantly increases the amount of work needed to maintain the site, is inconvenient for the reader and shouldn’t usually be needed.
Switch Javascript off
There are unfortunately quite a number of Internet sites which abuse Javascript by, for example, generating unwanted pop-ups and irritating animations. There are also a number of Javascript-related security holes in browsers, especially Internet Explorer. As a result a lot of readers switch Javascript off – indeed I often do myself. (I have a page giving the reasons in more detail.) Some organisations even block the usage of Javascript completely. Furthermore few, if any, search engines support Javascript.
It is therefore important to check that your site still functions with Javascript disabled. A lot of sites rely – quite unnecessarily – on Javascript for navigation, with the result that the lack of Javascript renders the site unusable.
Clearly if you need it for essential content, that functionality will be lost. But there is no reason why the basic text of the site should be unavailable.
Avoid nearly-meaningless messages like “Javascript needed to view this site”. If you have something worth showing, tell the user what it is, e.g.
“enable Javascript to see animation of solar system”.Switch plug-ins off
The considerations for plug-ins (such as Flash or Java) are very similar to those for Javascript above. Check the site with any plug-ins disabled. The basic text and navigation should still work.
Interest the reader sufficiently, and he might just go to the trouble of down-loading the plug-in. Greet him with a blank screen or a “You need Flash to read this site” message and he will probably go away, never to return.
Switch images off
If scanning a number of sites quickly for information, many readers (including myself) switch images off, for quick loading. Other people cannot view images. So switch images off and check that the site is readable and navigable. This means, in particular, checking that sensible ALT texts have been provided for images. (This check is similar to using a text browser, but not quite the same).
its worth to take a look at this link for more info