Test idea: Report on Web technologies used in an application

Hi folks,

On top of tests Dom already proposed, one of the features that I think
could be useful in a new version of the Checker would be to report on
the Web technologies referenced in an application (or actually used,
but that's probably harder to tell). Typically, the tool could parse
the HTML, CSS and JavaScript code and build a report that would look
like the Standards for Web Applications on Mobile state page:
 http://www.w3.org/2012/02/mobile-web-app-state/

Main benefits:
1. First rough idea of the platforms on which the app might break
because of missing support.
2. Quick access to the specs that describe the Web technologies used
in the app. That's useful for debugging purpose. It also helps
associate technologies with actual specs.
3. Quick access to a maturity indicator of the technologies used in an
app. Many developers in the real world do not know the difference
between a Working Draft and a Rec, so that's a good idea to remind
them that a particular technology might not be stable.
4. Quick overview of the list of technologies used in an app. It's
easy to lose track of things that were included in an app. For
instance, several persons might have taken part on its development
(e.g. a designer for the CSS, a developer for the JS). It's also
pretty common to depend on third-party libraries (e.g. Bootstrap,
iScroll, jQuery Mobile).

Referenced technologies may not be used in the end: libraries often
use fallbacks when they are not available (e.g. iScroll with CSS 3D
Transforms). Also it's unlikely that the tool can assert that it found
them all as it's easy to "hide" them in JavaScript but, hey, I never
claimed the implementation would be straightforward ;)

Thanks,
Francois.

Received on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 07:55:35 UTC