How can you detect the version of a browser?

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odle

I've been searching around for code that would let me detect if the user visiting the website has Firefox 3 or 4. All I have found is code to detect the type of browser but not the version.

How can I detect the version of a browser like this?

Here are several prominent libraries that handle browser detection as of May 2019.

Bowser by lancedikson - 3,761★s - Last updated May 26, 2019 - 4.8KB

<!-- begin snippet: js hide: false console: true babel: false --> <!-- language: lang-js --> 
var result = bowser.getParser(window.navigator.userAgent);
console.log(result);
document.write("You are using " + result.parsedResult.browser.name +
               " v" + result.parsedResult.browser.version + 
               " on " + result.parsedResult.os.name);
<!-- language: lang-html --> 
<script src="https://unpkg.com/bowser@2.4.0/es5.js"></script>
<!-- end snippet -->

<i>*supports Edge based on Chromium</i>

Platform.js by bestiejs - 2,250★s - Last updated Oct 30, 2018 - 5.9KB

<!-- begin snippet: js hide: false console: true babel: false --> <!-- language: lang-js --> 
console.log(platform);
document.write("You are using " + platform.name +
               " v" + platform.version + 
               " on " + platform.os);
<!-- language: lang-html --> 
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/platform/1.3.5/platform.min.js"></script>
<!-- end snippet -->

jQuery Browser by gabceb - 504★s - Last updated Nov 23, 2015 - 1.3KB

<!-- begin snippet: js hide: false console: true babel: false --> <!-- language: lang-js --> 
console.log($.browser)
document.write("You are using " + $.browser.name +
               " v" + $.browser.versionNumber + 
               " on " + $.browser.platform);
<!-- language: lang-html --> 
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery-browser/0.1.0/jquery.browser.min.js"></script>
<!-- end snippet -->

Detect.js (Archived) by darcyclarke - 522★s - Last updated Oct 26, 2015 - 2.9KB

<!-- begin snippet: js hide: false console: true babel: false --> <!-- language: lang-js --> 
var result = detect.parse(navigator.userAgent);
console.log(result);
document.write("You are using " + result.browser.family +
               " v" + result.browser.version + 
               " on " + result.os.family);
<!-- language: lang-html --> 
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/Detect.js/2.2.2/detect.min.js"></script>
<!-- end snippet -->

Browser Detect (Archived) by QuirksMode - Last updated Nov 14, 2013 - 884B

<!-- begin snippet: js hide: false console: true babel: false --> <!-- language: lang-js --> 
console.log(BrowserDetect)
document.write("You are using " + BrowserDetect.browser +
               " v" + BrowserDetect.version + 
               " on " + BrowserDetect.OS);
<!-- language: lang-html --> 
<script src="https://kylemit.github.io/libraries/libraries/BrowserDetect.js"></script>
<!-- end snippet -->

Notable Mentions:

  • WhichBrowser - 1,355★s - Last updated Oct 2, 2018
  • Modernizr - 23,397★s - Last updated Jan 12, 2019 - To feed a fed horse, feature detection should drive any canIuse style questions. Browser detection is really just for providing customized images, download files, or instructions for individual browsers.

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