Flexboxisapproachingmaturityasaspecification.Thelatestversionsofmost
browsersnowsupportitspropertiesandvalueswithoutavendorprefix.
Beforewedigintoflexbox,here’saquickreviewofitshistory:theoriginal 2009
specificationwentthroughahugerewritein 2012 whereseveralpropertiesand
valueswererenamedandsomebehaviorswereadjusted.Andthenthespecification
wentthroughanotherrewritethatbroughtitveryclosetowhereitbegan.
Different browser vendors implemented the specification at different points, which
means that the browser landscape is fragmented. Safari ≤ 6, Android ≤ 4.3, and
UC Browser support the original 2009 versionoftheflexboxspecification.^15 Internet
Explorer 10 implementsthe 2012 version,detailsofwhichimplementationare
availablefromtheMicrosoftDeveloperNetwork.^16
Table4.3showscurrentbrowsersupportforflexbox.
Thefullhistoryoftheflexboxrewriteprocessisburiedintheannalsofthewww-
[email protected];however,thespecificationeditorTabAtkins
wrotetwoblogpoststhatexplainthedifferences.SeeAtkins’“Flexboxisdead,
longliveflexbox!”^17.
Table 4.3. Browser support for the current flexbox module specification
(Source: CanIUse.com^18 )
Internet Firefox Safari Chrome Opera Android
Explorer
12.1+ (versions 4.4+
15 and 16
require
-webkit-
prefix)
2 1+ (versions
28 require
-webkit-
prefix)
6.1+ (versions
9 require
-webkit-
prefix)
11 28+
(^15) http://www.w3.org/TR/2009/WD-css3-flexbox-20090723/#packing
(^16) https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh673531(v=vs.85).aspx
(^17) http://www.xanthir.com/blog/b4Dm0
(^18) http://caniuse.com/#feat=flexbox
170 CSS Master