Conditional comments
Written byPhuoc Nguyen
Created
06 Sep, 2022
Conditional comments have the same syntax as an HTML comment (
`<!-- -->`), but they only work on the Internet Explorer browser (IE).
Despite the fact that the technique isn't used on the web nowadays, I still keep it here to remind us of what we had to deal with many years ago.The content inside the comments are only available on IE 5-9, and are ignored by other browsers. In the older versions of IE, starting from IE 10, the syntax is disabled.
html
<!--[if IE]>Only IE sees this<![endif]-->You are able to add some constraint to restricts the IE versions, for example:
html
<!--[if IE 8]>Only IE 8 sees this<![endif]-->
<!--[if gte IE 8]>Only IE 8 and higher versions see this<![endif]-->
<!--[if lte IE 8]>Only IE 8 and lower versions see this<![endif]-->The special characters indicating the IE versions are listed as following:
| Character | Description |
|---|---|
`gt` | Greater than |
`gte` | Greater than or equal to |
`lt` | Less than |
`lte` | Less than or equal to |
You can apply styles or fixes for a given IE version such as
html
<link href="styles.css" rel="stylesheet" />
<!--[if IE 8]>
<link href="fix-ie8.css" rel="stylesheet" />
<![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 9]>
<link href="fix-ie9.css" rel="stylesheet" />
<![endif]-->The
`styles.css` file contains the styles working for modern browsers whereas `fix-ie8.css` and `fix-ie9.css` files provide the fixes for IE 8 and IE 9 respectively.
Questions? 🙋
Do you have any questions about front-end development? If so, feel free to create a new issue on GitHub using the button below. I'm happy to help with any topic you'd like to learn more about, even beyond what's covered in this post.
While I have a long list of upcoming topics, I'm always eager to prioritize your questions and ideas for future content. Let's learn and grow together! Sharing knowledge is the best way to elevate ourselves 🥷.
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Phước Nguyễn