Web Compatibility Testing with Steam Browser

Question

Background
During web development, especially on the front-end, developers must test their code to see how it looks (pretty self-explanatory right?). When doing this, the developer will examine the website not just from their browser of choice, but from a multitude of browsers. This:

• Tests to see if all features are inter-operable, or have work arounds where necessary (e.g. the use of -webkit etc)
• Tests to see if the user experience is consistent throughout the site and across browsers.

My Context:
I am currently in the process of developing a web application in PHP that my users are likely to access through the Steam overlay.

Usually, when unit testing, I will use the latest version of Chrome. Then, once a feature has been completed, I will perform an integration test across IE, Firefox, Chrome, Edge and the Steam Browser.

From my research (which may well not be very accurate), the Steam Browser seems to use an outdated and insecure version of a Chromium base.

My Question:
During the development of the application, which often entails adding, editing and testing user inputs and GUI features, should I perform unit tests within the Steam Browser?

Seen as though the Steam Browser uses old-Chrome, should I assume it will be alright until the integration test, or should I be focusing on it, or is there even a difference at all?

Answer 1

You should always test using the same browsers or other interfaces that your end users will use, even if that browser is out of date or inferior.

One of your goals should be to detect bugs early, when they are less costly to fix. If you wait too long to test a feature in the Steam browser and end up adding other features on top of the one you are testing, you may find that you need to refactor that code and possibly make large changes to it. There is nothing wrong with that, except that you could potentially avoid breaking other things in the process and spend less time fixing issues if you have a shorter deployment and test cycle and test using all the browsers your end users will use.

If you wait too long, you may create extra work for yourself.