Re: Revamp HTML5 doctype sniffing?

Ian Hickson wrote:
> The problem with the modes is their existence at all; unless we can get 
> rid of a mode entirely, it doesn't really matter how many ways there are 
> to trigger it. If there is even one way to trigger a mode, then we haven't 
> gained anything by removing the number of ways it is triggered, since the 
> cost is in testing the modes once they are triggered, not in testing the 
> triggering mechanism itself (which ironically isn't affected by the number 
> of modes or the number of ways they can be triggered).

I have a different point of view here. If HTML 4.0 doctypes wouldn't 
trigger quirks mode, authors were less likely to unintentionally use 
that mode (I know that this is happening, because I often work with 
beginners).

My point of view is that we shouldn't trigger a mode, because the mode's 
there anyway. We should trigger it when it's necessary. And imho this 
isn't the case for HTML 4.0 doctypes.

> I don't understand what you mean.

IE 6 to 8 and Opera 9.5/9.6 currently trigger almost standards mode for 
HTML 4.0 doctypes. IE (8) will remain unchanged for a long time 
(depending on Win OS success 6 to 10 years).

Firefox and Safari could align their behavior in the next 2-3 years and 
update their users accordingly.
It's true that IE9 could also change, but that's not optimal in my 
opinion, because older IE versions are much more dominant (and much 
longer used) than older versions of other browsers.

Received on Sunday, 5 April 2009 09:56:07 UTC