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Home > Detail: Browsers with a Bean to Grind
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Browsers with a Bean to Grind
By Tod Golding
   
Summary: Listen in on a coffehouse conversation between two browsers, Internet Explorer and Mozilla, that have been pushed to the brink by technologies that test their limits and a standards body that nixes their ability to innovate. Find out what they think of their previous successes and what the future holds — filtered through the creative mind of innocent bystander Tod Golding. | | |
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I couldn't believe my eyes when I walked into a coffeehouse the other day. Tucked away in the corner of the room were Mozilla and Internet Explorer. I never expected to find these two archenemies in the same room, less yet at the same table. What could they possibly be talking about?
Overcome with curiosity and a geeky sense of exuberance, I decided to figure out what these two were up to. I noticed that neither looked particularly alert nor cheery, and both were hunched over in their chairs, sipping on what appeared to be their tenth double lattes. Their toolbars were bloodshot and neither had been refreshed for days.
I introduced myself and asked if they minded sharing their table. At first I got only grumbles and sneers. Even though they'd said almost nothing, their general temperament had me wondering if this was such a good idea. Still, I had to know what brought these two together, and they eventually motioned for me to sit.
After taking a moment to work up my nerve, I tried to initiate some dialogue. "Good morning, gentlemen," I said.
"What’s so good about it?" IE blurted.
"You're sipping that coffee awfully loudly," Mozilla added.
This was going to be tougher than I thought. I felt like one more pop-up they were trying to block.
At first I just assumed the hostility was a byproduct of the well-published feud between these two. However, after settling in and getting them to open up a bit more, I discovered that they were actually borderline friends. They were definitely angry — and as bitter as the coffee they were drinking — but it wasn't anything to do with their perceived rivalry.
"You know how hard life is for a browser these days? People — they just expect way too much of you," IE said. "My first job was straightforward and simple. Give me some HTML, and I'll render it. I was all about delivering content and, to be honest, I think I did that well. Back then, I looked forward to coming to work everyday.”
It was clear that IE had some real issues. And with each point, Mozilla pounded on the table in agreement.
"They're just pushing us way too hard. I'm at my limit," Mozilla said. "I haven't had a vacation in ten years, and I'm tired of being treated like this. They want miracles, and I'm running out of tricks. Do you know how much effort it takes to filter out all that porn? It's just insane!"
I agreed with many of their points. Browsers are continually pushed to take on more responsibility. They were built as a simple container for rendering hyperlinked content, and we've contorted their roles and responsibilities with technologies that have pushed their limits. No matter how hard the vendors try, writing code for the browser can feel like you're working around the environment instead of with it.
"Just when I figured out how to support drag-and-drop in DHTML, someone came along and started doing Ajax," IE said. "Now, in addition to everything else I have to do, I have to listen for asynchronous messages all day long. That wasn't in my job description, and I don't have the time or energy to deal with it."
These browsers were making some valid points. Our view of the browser's role now reaches beyond the scope of content delivery. In some cases, we're really trying to build complete applications housed in the browser. We're adding toolbars, popup windows, panel bars, and every other native-like component to the rendering responsibilities of the DOM.
Even as I look at all the power and excitement of Ajax, I wonder if this really represents a step forward for the browsers. The more clever the techniques we find for building Web applications, the more I wonder if HTML, the DOM, and JavaScript are really the appropriate vehicles for building solutions that can successfully mimic the qualities of desktop applications.
"The pressure they put on us to support all these options is just ridiculous,” Mozilla said, slamming down his empty cup. "I was built to render tables, links, and images. Now they're giving me stuff that doesn't make sense. I swear, if I have to support one more date picker, I'm going to lose my mind.”
These guys are somewhat the victims of their own success. As the single user interface for the Web, these browsers live and die based on their compatibility with a W3C specification they don't control. On one side they have developers who are pushing them as hard as they can, and on the other they have a standards body that limits their ability to innovate.
This, from my perspective, is the conflicted existence that browsers are forced to deal with every day. While our expectations and needs for the browser are advancing, the browsers simply don't have the freedom to easily introduce significant, new concepts. I'm sure there are plenty of good ideas out there, but most won't see the light of day if we continue down this path.
"Every time I try to add some new feature, I find myself in another courtroom,” said IE, who clearly retains scars from his embattled past. “I'm not about to stick my neck out again. It took me five years of therapy to get over that mess.”
With baggage like this, my hopes for IE seemed dismal. It will be some time before he's willing to tackle new concepts. With that in mind, I wondered aloud how Mozilla perceived his recent advancement.
"I think the tabs represent a real breakthrough," he said. "They really changed the whole complexion of browsing.”
That only disappointed me further. While tabs were a definite step forward for content browsing, they did little to advance the browser’s ability to build applications.
I had hoped to persuade these two to consider an alternate future, one where the best of the browser would be combined with a rich framework for building applications. I want the simple, convenient, productive model I get when building desktop applications available to me in a platform-neutral browser. Sure, I still want the browser to support content; I just don't want that to be its exclusive focus.
Even though I wanted to ask these two if they could ever imagine a future where they might be able to step up to this challenge, I thought it in my best interest to save that question for later. Still, I think broadening the browsers’ roles could reduce our need to live on the edge of what the DOM and HTML can realistically achieve. Let's stop picking on these guys and give them the freedom they need to do their jobs. Then we'll all be a little less grumpy. {end}
About the Author
Tod Golding is the founder of Blue Puma Software, a technical consulting company that provides software training, mentoring, and development services. He has twenty years of experience as a software developer, lead architect, and development manager for organizations engaged in the delivery of large-scale commercial and internal solutions. With an extensive background leveraging .NET, J2EE, and Windows DNA technologies, Tod has become equally skilled with C#, Java, and C++. He has worked and consulted at a variety of companies, including Microsoft and Borland. Tod is the author of Professional .NET 2.0 Generics and a contributing author of the XML Programming Bible.
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