arcgis api for javascript 3.9

[DHAVAMANIRAMACHANDRAN2]

Hi All,

This is Dhavamani from Hyderabad India.

We currently have a working application/solution built on ArcGIS API for JavaScript 3.9 using HTML 4.01 and CSS.

This actually support only IE 7-9, and we are planning to upgrade this solution for working with other browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.

Here i have a confusion on knowing the major browser compatibility issues that will raise if we we still continue using ArcGIS API for JavaScript 3.9, HTML 4.01, CSS, Dojo 1.9.1.?

Please provide me some input on cross browser compatibility for ArcGIS API for JavaScript 3.9, HTML 4.01, CSS, Dojo 1.9.1, if you have came across this same situation.

Is Esri going to support the JSAPI 3.9.??

What are all the risk, impact and disabilities in terms of performance, browser cache etc that we have to face if we use the above mentioned version of application.

Regards,

Dhavamani

[TyroneBiggums]

I do not have an answer to all of your questions, but I do have a few questions to stir up discussion.

1. Are you going to still support IE 7-9?

2. Are you also going to support IE10+ along with the other browsers?

3. Are you planning to support newer Chrome, Firefox, Safari versions only?

4. Have you considered upgrading your version of the API to the latest and greatest?

[DHAVAMANIRAMACHANDRAN2]

Hi Tyrone,

Thanks for your response.

Currently my Application which is developed on Esri JASPI 3.9, HTML 4.01, jQuery 1.9 and Dojo 1.7 works fine with IE7 and IE8. We are planning to give it as an application which works on cross browsers. So i am quite confused if we need an upgrade of API or not.

My answer to your questions are below:

1. Are you going to still support IE 7-9?

     As of now we are planning to Support this existing Application.

2. Are you also going to support IE10+ along with the other browsers?

     Currently we have not proposed about newer version of browsers to clients.

3. Are you planning to support newer Chrome, Firefox, Safari versions only?

     Currently we have not proposed about newer version of browsers to clients. We are planning for an update to existing application which can work on newer version of IE, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.

4. Have you considered upgrading your version of the API to the latest and greatest?

     Yes we are considering for an upgrade. But we need justifying points for this upgrade of Esri API 3.14, HTML5, CSS3, jQuery 1.11.x, Dojo 1.10 etc.

So do you have any best reason why we should upgrade to Esri API 3.14 from lesser versions of Esri JSAPI such as 3.9.?

And what will be the improvement we will have in application performance, look and feel, etc.?

[TyroneBiggums]

If you're going to upgrade, you may as well upgrade completely. Here is what I'd do:

HTML5/CSS3: If you want to maintain support with IE7-9, you're going to want to refrain from HTML5. But, you can develop in Esri JS API 3.14 on HTML4. There seems to be a larger focus on well-formed HTML in HTML5. You can/should do that in HTML4. Otherwise, you can't really use HTML5 in the older browsers. So, I wouldn't worry about HTML5 or CSS3. If you're not doing anything fancy enough to require HTML5/CSS3, don't worry about either. Really, if you want some of the newer features, you're going to want to ditch old browser support. Or, those users will lose out on features. Summary: Use HTML4.

Esri JS API 3.14 (or 3.15): It's probably worth it. Pretty soon you're going to run into issues where other browsers you'd like to support will just plain work better with freshly supported APIs. I think you'll find (assuming you're Esri code is AMD) that there isn't going to be too much you have to change. Don't get me wrong, there'll be some changes. But, we've gone from 3.11 to 3.15 seamlessly. They are adding goodies, not making too many changes. For example, look at this jsfiddle. Change the CND link from 3.9 to 3.14 and run it. The code is the same, the map renders the same way. http://jsfiddle.net/DavidSpriggs/2QxMw/ Summary: I recommend 3.14, at least, so that you can support newer browsers and acquire better support from the community.

jQuery/Dojo: I've used jQuery for as long as I can remember. Some minor syntax might change but you probably won't notice too much just by referencing the newer version of these libraries/tools. You'll have more "oh cool" moments upgrading (you may as well go to jQuery 2+, btw) than you will have "oh crap" moments. Some stuff is deprecated, some stuff is added. It's doing pretty much the same thing.

Browsers: I think it's going to be difficult to support IE7 and Chrome. It'll be more difficult to handcuff a user and force them to use an older version of Chrome. This is where your bigger dilemma is at, I think.

Performance: I would be guessing. I have no idea what performance gains there'd be going from 3.9 to 3.14. Probably marginal at best. It should really just come down to which browsers you would like to support.

You could make a lighter version of your application that works with the 3.14 CDN link. Download the browsers you're interested in, and test it out.

[DHAVAMANIRAMACHANDRAN2]

Thanks Tyrone,

I will take up your suggestions and ideas further for a better implementation.

Regards,

Dhavamani K R

[TyroneBiggums]

It's probably worth noting that you'd need 3.11 (I think) to support IE11.

[ChrisSmith7]

FYI, here's the life cycle/support page for the web APIs:

http://downloads.esri.com/support/product%20life%20cycle/online_gis/ArcGISWebMappingAPIs_PLC.pdf

You can see that all 3.x versions, including 3.9, are supported until 01/01/2019

I upgraded from 3.9 to 3.14 - there were really no breaking changes aside from adjusting the way I loaded the libraries from the self-hosted libraries (some URLs slightly changed) and the legend created from the API slightly changed in styling. This was relevant as I massage the legend on the front-end, so I had to rework some stuff there.

[ChrisSmith7]

Also,

Here's the info on the changes between the API versions:

What's new in Version 3.14 | Guide | ArcGIS API for JavaScript

What's new in Version 3.13 | Guide | ArcGIS API for JavaScript

What's new in Version 3.12 | Guide | ArcGIS API for JavaScript

What's new in Version 3.11 | Guide | ArcGIS API for JavaScript

What's new in Version 3.10 | Guide | ArcGIS API for JavaScript

What's new in Version 3.9 | Guide | ArcGIS API for JavaScript

If anything comes-up and you're having difficulty resolving, try upgrading incrementally and addressing the breaking changes each time. It's worked for me in the past when hopping over major versions without having to rewrite the app entirely, but I doubt you'll encounter much, if anything, moving from 3.9 to 3.14