Conditional Statements, Cross-Browser Analysis, & Tools Bars for Web Developers

When designing sites or themes, I currently test and make CSS revisions for six different browsers:

1. Firefox 3
2. IE 7
3. IE 6
4. Safari
5. Chrome
6. Opera

Now that IE 8 has been released, it will have to be added to the list as well. According to this blog, conditional browser statements and style-sheets can be used to set web pages to display as IE 7 pages within IE 8:

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Mozilla Labs Releases Bespin Beta: In-Browser Collaborative Code Editing

I recently received a tip to check out a new Beta release of “Bespin” at Mozilla Labs, and decided to test the demo for review. First, what is Bespin and why would anyone be interested in it? Essentially it is a HTML or code editor that works in the browser, or in this instance a browser that supports the HTML 5 <canvas> protocol (which apparently FF3 does currently but IE/Microsoft has no plans to implement). The developers have used <canvas> and JavaScript to build a cloud application that works something like a Google Docs for coders.

All of the html, css, php, javascript, or other files for a site would be listed in browser in a file management hierarchy familiar to anyone who has used a FTP program or CPanel. Clicking on the file would load it directly into the browser where it could be edited and then saved back to the disk, or in this instance the remote server. The “cloud” aspect is related to using the browser for this work, rather than a typical desktop application. As someone coding html files for over 13 years, this routine of working through multiple programs during the web publishing process could be transformed.

Bespin also enables collaborative authoring, editing, and file management for web development through a shared browser interface. The simplicity of the program leads to its expansion – if it can replace the desktop editor on your computer, then why not have everyone on the team use it and manage the publication of core site code files in the same manner… through Bespin? According to the developers, they are looking to improve upon Vi, Emacs, Textmate and IntelliJ IDEA.

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