Feature detection (web development): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:57, 16 August 2014

Revision as of 21:15, 5 August 2015

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A feature test can take many forms. It is essentially ''any'' snippet of code which gives some level of confidence that a required feature is indeed supported. However, in contrast to other techniques, feature detection usually focusses on performing actions which directly relate to the feature to be detected, rather than [[heuristics]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2014}}

As [[JavaScript]] is the most prevelentprevalent [[scripting language]] in web browsers{{Citation needed|date=March 2014}}, many feature detection techniques use JavaScript to inspect the [[Document Object Model|DOM]] and local JavaScript environment.

The simplest technique is to check for the existence of a relevant object or property. For example, the Geolocation API (used for accessing the device’s knowledge of its geographical ___location, possibly obtained from a [[GPS navigation device]]) exposes a <code>geolocation</code> property on the <code>navigator</code> object in the DOM; the presence of which implies the Geolocation API is supported: