What are polyfills in programming science?

Polyfill
Ways to use Polyfill(s)

1. Polyfill

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In layman’s terms, one can imagine a polyfill as a common paste which can be used to fill holes and cracks to smooth out any defects in a wall. In the UK there is a popular brand name for this paste which is called “Polyfilla”.

For the web, the term "Polyfill" has a similar meaning. A Polyfill is a small piece of code or a missing browser function that needs to be added or filled in.

For easy understanding, take a look at a small ES6 JavaScript code snippet below:

// ES6 Code
var s = 'Tom and Jerry';

if (s.startsWith('Tom')) {
    console.log('Hello Tom');
}

The startsWith method is part of the ES6 specification published in 2015. The code above works perfectly on new browsers, such as Chrome 41+. Note: Chrome version 41 only partially supports ES6 features. It was only when Chrome version 51 (May 2016) was released that ES6 was fully supported by Chrome.

Browser	Version Supports startsWith	Version Fully Support ES6	Date
Chrome	41	51	May 2016
Edge	12	14	Aug 2016
Firefox	17	54	Jun 2017
Internet Explorer	No	No
Safari	9	10	Sep 2016
Opera	28	38	Jun 2016

To support old browsers you must patch functions that are missing. In this case, make sure to check if the browser supports the startsWith method. If it doesn't, you need to simulate it with equivalent feature:

// ES5 Code
if (!String.prototype.startsWith) {
    String.prototype.startsWith = function (searchString, position) {
        position = position || 0;
        return this.substr(position, searchString.length) === searchString;
    };
}
var s = 'Tom and Jerry';

if (s.startsWith('Tom')) {
    console.log('Hello Tom');
}

Another example of a polyfill. The static method Math.trunc(number) is used to "truncate" the decimal part of a number and return an integer. For example Math.trunc(1.23) returns 1. Old browsers do not support the method, therefore we need to simulate this method to add to it.

if (!Math.trunc) { // if no such method
    // implement it
    Math.trunc = function (number) {
        // Math.ceil and Math.floor exist even in ancient JavaScript engines
        // they are covered later in the tutorial
        return number < 0 ? Math.ceil(number) : Math.floor(number);
    };
}

By the time this article is released (2021), we can basically be sure that most users have switched to using a browser that supports JavaScript ES5+. So creating polyfill(s) for "too old" browsers (ES4-) is not really necessary anymore.

caniuse.com is a website that helps you test which browsers support a certain feature. For example, check browser support for the startsWith method

https://caniuse.com/?search=startsWith

2. Ways to use Polyfill(s)

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Basically, there are 2 ways to use Polyfill:

Polyfilling manually

Manually write and use your Polyfill(s) like the examples above.

Polyfill library

Many Polyfill libraries are created by the community and are freely shared. They are often used in conjunction with Transpiler(s).

Transpiler

For example, JavaScript Polyfill libraries like babel-polyfill, Es6-shim, polyfill-library,... can be imported into your projects, such as NodeJS, React,...

A few examples using the Polyfill libraries, which you may be interested in:

NodeJS + babel-polyfill

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What are polyfills in programming science?

1. Polyfill

2. Ways to use Polyfill(s)

ECMAScript, Javascript Tutorials

ECMAScript, Javascript Tutorials

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