Adobe Browserlab saved my life,

Like most software developers, I prefer to keep my nose buried in lines of code.  Writing algorithms, patterns, and coming up with creative solutions to domain issues is where I prefer to spend my time.  The reality though is that at some point in time, we all need to hoist some manual labor in parts of the code that we really prefer not to.  One area that I can firmly admit to having a love hate relationship with is html and the overall design process. 

Not because I think that it's beneath me, it couldn't be more the opposite.   It has more to do with browser compatibility.  The mentality of an html / css developer must be a forgiving one, a trait that I can't say that I share ... especially when it comes to technology.  I cannot fathom why browsers handle HTML and CSS differently.  The equivalent for software developers is like telling them that they must embed conditional statements to handle varying compilers in Windows XP, Server 2003, Server 2008, etc.  Imagine what that code would look like ...  After all, HTML is a standard, and I feel strongly that there is a solution in which browsers can process that HTML with equal respect.

I digress, because this post is not a complaint, but rather a solution for this pesky problem!  Allow me to introduce Adobe Browserlabs (thanks Coach).  Adobe has published a service that allows developers to pass a URL for inspection into the Browserlab engine.  The engine will take that URL and process a GET request for the URL to each of the browsers you specify.  From there you may examine how your application looks in a bouquet of browsers.  Browserlabs can be found at the following URL: https://browserlab.adobe.com.  The following image should explain everything

This is by no means a solution to the problem, but more a tool that allows you to do your job faster.  As any good developer knows, you are only as good as your tools!

{  Happy Coding  }