Are there any browsers that cannot handle javascript?

Question

I was looking at a "best practices" guide in relation to the inclusion of javascript in web pages (dynamic and static) which suggested that developers should always comment out javascript due to older browsers being unable to support the scripting language.

Is this true?

I tried searching for issues surrounding compatibility but could find nothing - I'm wondering if the information is out of date, as I've never heard of browsers having no idea what scripting is; a separate issue from javascript being deliberately disabled.

By "any" I obviously mean any non-discontinued browser.

Partial duplicate: What web browsers do not support Javascript? and how to identify which browser is client using?

Yes, there are still browsers not supporting JavaScript but people using them know what they do and don't need you to comment out the script. This best practice is obsolete since a very long time. Don't comment out the script unless your script does nothing important, building and maintaining an alternate noscript page isn't worth the pain. — Denys Séguret
– Denys Séguret, Commented Feb 10, 2014 at 10:40
You can disable javascript in browsers to test your application. — kwelsan
– kwelsan, Commented Feb 10, 2014 at 10:43

Maël Nison · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-10 10:58:00Z

1

Javascript is widely available, but there are some cases where you cannot rely on its presence.

First of all, the NoScript extension has been pretty successful - I'm not sure if it is still widely used, but you can except that at least a small portion of your users will use it (even if they whitelist your website later).

Another thing to keep in mind is that some browser just cannot implement a good Javascript engine. The best example which comes to mind is TTY-related browsers such as lynx.

Finally, don't forget that some people here are disabled, such as blind peoples, and have to use very specific browsers, which probably cannot work very well along Javascript.

[edit] About the specific "developers should always comment out javascript due to older browsers being unable to support the scripting language" question, I assume you're referencing the following pattern :

<script>//<!--
    Actual source code here
//--></script>

Afaik, every modern browser knows what a script tag is, even if they ignore it. I'm not aware of any browser which prints script tag contents.

answered Feb 10, 2014 at 10:58

Maël Nison

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1 Comment

Stumbler Over a year ago

Yup, the edit was in relation to the question. Won't accept just yet in case someone throws some curveball like "Opera Mobile doesn't understand what script tags are"

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