• A technique for handling differences between runtime environments (typically user agents), by programmatically testing for clues that the environment may or may not offer certain functionality. This information is then used to make the application adapt in some way to suit the environment, for example to make use of certain APIs or to tailor the user experience. Feature detection is said to be more reliable and future-proof than other techniques, like browser sniffing and browser-specific CSS hacks. ← Wikipedia

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