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Comment by userbinator | Hacker News Reader

It costs money to support old browsers

One of the arguments the article makes is that it doesn't --- thanks to the backwards-compatible nature of the Web, anything that works on an older browser is likely to continue working on the newer one.

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So I have to design and build for the older browser then hope that the newer browser handles it properly, whilst also constraining myself from using any newer functionality?

That seems backwards.

No. You have to build on the new browser, because that's what is on your new computer, then hope it runs on the old computer with the old browser.

The article is saying that you don't "build for the older browser" --- or indeed any browser specifically, but instead start off with basic HTML and adding just enough markup and styling around the content as you desire. Maybe you'll later tweak the site to look exactly the way you want in a specific browser, but this process means that even if it doesn't look perfect, other browsers will likely be able to use the site too.

The article is wrong. It absolutely does cost money and time to test on old browsers. You need multiple computers or vms set up. You don't build websites using old computers running ie6. so you have load the site on that old browser after you write the code.

It's an obvious fact to anyone who does front end web development.

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