Meteor 1.7 released to support both modern as well as legacy browsers that will keep themselves updated as and when new features arrive. It also provides options for developers to selectively compile their node-modules before publishing it on npm.
When Meteor was initially released in 2012, it was considered as a game-changing framework for developers to use JavaScript on the client as well as on the server-side. This gave birth to the “Isomorphic” revolution that allows developers to break from the shackles of rendering pages on the server-side.
Over the years Meteor has followed an incremental update plan without drastically changing the framework, a move which developers have really appreciated, and the trend follows for the 1.7 release as well.
Notable features in Meteor 1.7
Differential modern/legacy browser support
When a new version for a browser is shipped, it comes with all the latest features of ECMAScript packed inside it. This has a very significant impact on web development as developers can start using the latest standards to ease the process and write more fluid and performant code. But it is not always possible, using these new features means leaving behind the users who are still using the old browser, posing a dilemma for developers.
Well, Meteor 1.7 brings the best of both worlds by automatically building two sets of client-side assets, one tailored to the capabilities of the modern browser, and the other designed to work equally well on all supported browsers. This will help legacy browsers continue to work exactly the same as they were before.
Selective compilation of node modules
The npm packages are precompiled before they are published, so users of these packages have to settle for the compilation strategy decided by the author. Meteor 1.7, allows you to control how an npm package is compiled, or compile the package for modern/legacy browsers and Node. This lets application developers take complete control of the npm modules they are using.
Most of the new features in Meteor 1.7 can be applied in a backward compatible manner or they can be opted out, it is completely a developer’s choice. For a complete breakdown of the new Meteor features, refer to this Official Meteor blog page.
