What is Cross Browser Testing?
Cross browser testing is the process of testing the web application frontend on many different browsers and versions thereof. Web browsers run their home-grown engines to generate user interfaces based on HTML, CSS, and JS source code.
| Engine | Browser |
|---|---|
| Gecko | Firefox (and derivatives like SeaMonkey & Waterfox) |
| Blink | Chromium (and derivatives like Chrome, Edge, Vivaldi, Brave & Opera) |
| WebKit | Safari (and all iOS browsers) |
All in all, given the different combinations of browsers (& versions), operating systems (& versions), screen sizes, and resolutions, the number of combinations is staggeringly high; and supporting the most popular permutations is vital for businesses.
Why is cross browser testing required?
- Running on different operating systems and different architectures can introduce rendering and performance differences across browsers.
- All browser engines are developed independently and support different web specifications to different extents. Some browsers might provide experimental features ahead of others.
- Not all browsers support all features at the same time. The site 'Can I use' lists the level of support provided by different browsers for any given feature.
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