How to detect browser rendering engine in javascript?

I read a book calls 'Professional Javascript For Web Developers 2nd edition' and it state that this code can detect browser rendering engine:

    <script type="text/javascript">
  var client = function(){
     var engine = {
        ie: 0,
        gecko: 0,
        webkit: 0,
        khtml: 0,
        opera: 0,

        ver: null
     };

     return {
        engine : engine  
     };

  }();

  if(client.engine.ie){
      alert("This is internet explorer");
  }else if(client.engine.gecko > 1.5){
      if(client.engine.ver == "1.8.1"){
          alert("This is gecko rendering browser");
      }
  }else if(client.engine.webkit){
        alert("This is web kit");
  }else if(client.engine.khtml){
       alert("This is khtml");
  }else{
       alert("none of the above");
  }
</script>

but it seems like doesn't work, so how this code work to detect browser rendering engine?Thanks

Solution

If you read the rest of the chapter and download the source

then you can look at client.js:

It still works in IE10 on win7 and Chrome 67 on Win10

It needs a little change to handle IE11 (Trident/) and Edge(Edge/) - see later

var client = function() {

  //rendering engines
  var engine = {
    ie: 0,
    gecko: 0,
    webkit: 0,
    khtml: 0,
    opera: 0,

    //complete version
    ver: null
  };

  //browsers
  var browser = {

    //browsers
    ie: 0,
    firefox: 0,
    safari: 0,
    konq: 0,
    opera: 0,
    chrome: 0,
    safari: 0,

    //specific version
    ver: null
  };


  //platform/device/OS
  var system = {
    win: false,
    mac: false,
    x11: false,

    //mobile devices
    iphone: false,
    ipod: false,
    nokiaN: false,
    winMobile: false,
    macMobile: false,

    //game systems
    wii: false,
    ps: false
  };

  //detect rendering engines/browsers
  var ua = navigator.userAgent;
  if (window.opera) {
    engine.ver = browser.ver = window.opera.version();
    engine.opera = browser.opera = parseFloat(engine.ver);
  } else if (/AppleWebKit\/(\S+)/.test(ua)) {
    engine.ver = RegExp["$1"];
    engine.webkit = parseFloat(engine.ver);

    //figure out if it's Chrome or Safari
    if (/Chrome\/(\S+)/.test(ua)) {
      browser.ver = RegExp["$1"];
      browser.chrome = parseFloat(browser.ver);
    } else if (/Version\/(\S+)/.test(ua)) {
      browser.ver = RegExp["$1"];
      browser.safari = parseFloat(browser.ver);
    } else {
      //approximate version
      var safariVersion = 1;
      if (engine.webkit < 100) {
        safariVersion = 1;
      } else if (engine.webkit < 312) {
        safariVersion = 1.2;
      } else if (engine.webkit < 412) {
        safariVersion = 1.3;
      } else {
        safariVersion = 2;
      }

      browser.safari = browser.ver = safariVersion;
    }
  } else if (/KHTML\/(\S+)/.test(ua) || /Konqueror\/([^;]+)/.test(ua)) {
    engine.ver = browser.ver = RegExp["$1"];
    engine.khtml = browser.konq = parseFloat(engine.ver);
  } else if (/rv:([^\)]+)\) Gecko\/\d{8}/.test(ua)) {
    engine.ver = RegExp["$1"];
    engine.gecko = parseFloat(engine.ver);

    //determine if it's Firefox
    if (/Firefox\/(\S+)/.test(ua)) {
      browser.ver = RegExp["$1"];
      browser.firefox = parseFloat(browser.ver);
    }
  } else if (/MSIE ([^;]+)/.test(ua)) { // add Trident/ to test IE11, Edge for Edge
    engine.ver = browser.ver = RegExp["$1"];
    engine.ie = browser.ie = parseFloat(engine.ver);
  }

  //detect browsers
  browser.ie = engine.ie;
  browser.opera = engine.opera;


  //detect platform
  var p = navigator.platform;
  system.win = p.indexOf("Win") == 0;
  system.mac = p.indexOf("Mac") == 0;
  system.x11 = (p == "X11") || (p.indexOf("Linux") == 0);

  //detect windows operating systems
  if (system.win) {
    if (/Win(?:dows )?([^do]{2})\s?(\d+\.\d+)?/.test(ua)) {
      if (RegExp["$1"] == "NT") {
        switch (RegExp["$2"]) {
          case "5.0":
            system.win = "2000";
            break;
          case "5.1":
            system.win = "XP";
            break;
          case "6.0":
            system.win = "Vista";
            break;
          default:
            system.win = "NT";
            break;
        }
      } else if (RegExp["$1"] == "9x") {
        system.win = "ME";
      } else {
        system.win = RegExp["$1"];
      }
    }
  }

  //mobile devices
  system.iphone = ua.indexOf("iPhone") > -1;
  system.ipod = ua.indexOf("iPod") > -1;
  system.nokiaN = ua.indexOf("NokiaN") > -1;
  system.winMobile = (system.win == "CE");
  system.macMobile = (system.iphone || system.ipod);

  //gaming systems
  system.wii = ua.indexOf("Wii") > -1;
  system.ps = /playstation/i.test(ua);

  //return it
  return {
    engine: engine,
    browser: browser,
    system: system
  };

}();

console.log(client.browser,client.engine,client.system)

It needs a little change to handle IE11 (Trident/) and Edge(Edge/)

var client = function() {

  //rendering engines
  var engine = {
    ie: 0,
    edge: 0,
    gecko: 0,
    webkit: 0,
    khtml: 0,
    opera: 0,

    //complete version
    ver: null
  };

  //browsers
  var browser = {

    //browsers
    ie: 0,
    edge: 0,
    firefox: 0,
    safari: 0,
    konq: 0,
    opera: 0,
    chrome: 0,
    safari: 0,

    //specific version
    ver: null
  };


  //platform/device/OS
  var system = {
    win: false,
    mac: false,
    x11: false,

    //mobile devices
    iphone: false,
    ipod: false,
    nokiaN: false,
    winMobile: false,
    macMobile: false,

    //game systems
    wii: false,
    ps: false
  };

  //detect rendering engines/browsers
  var ua = navigator.userAgent;
  if (window.opera) {
    engine.ver = browser.ver = window.opera.version();
    engine.opera = browser.opera = parseFloat(engine.ver);
  }  
  else if (/Edge\/([^;]+)/.test(ua)) { // IE11
    engine.ver = browser.ver = RegExp["$1"];
    engine.edge = browser.edge = parseFloat(engine.ver);
  } else if (/AppleWebKit\/(\S+)/.test(ua)) {
    engine.ver = RegExp["$1"];
    engine.webkit = parseFloat(engine.ver);

    //figure out if it's Chrome or Safari
    if (/Chrome\/(\S+)/.test(ua)) {
      browser.ver = RegExp["$1"];
      browser.chrome = parseFloat(browser.ver);
    } else if (/Version\/(\S+)/.test(ua)) {
      browser.ver = RegExp["$1"];
      browser.safari = parseFloat(browser.ver);
    } else {
      //approximate version
      var safariVersion = 1;
      if (engine.webkit < 100) {
        safariVersion = 1;
      } else if (engine.webkit < 312) {
        safariVersion = 1.2;
      } else if (engine.webkit < 412) {
        safariVersion = 1.3;
      } else {
        safariVersion = 2;
      }

      browser.safari = browser.ver = safariVersion;
    }
  } else if (/KHTML\/(\S+)/.test(ua) || /Konqueror\/([^;]+)/.test(ua)) {
    engine.ver = browser.ver = RegExp["$1"];
    engine.khtml = browser.konq = parseFloat(engine.ver);
  } else if (/rv:([^\)]+)\) Gecko\/\d{8}/.test(ua)) {
    engine.ver = RegExp["$1"];
    engine.gecko = parseFloat(engine.ver);

    //determine if it's Firefox
    if (/Firefox\/(\S+)/.test(ua)) {
      browser.ver = RegExp["$1"];
      browser.firefox = parseFloat(browser.ver);
    }
  } else if (/MSIE ([^;]+)/.test(ua)) { // IE <= 10
    engine.ver = browser.ver = RegExp["$1"];
    engine.ie = browser.ie = parseFloat(engine.ver);
  } else if (/Trident\/([^;]+)/.test(ua)) { // IE11
    engine.ver = RegExp["$1"];
    browser.ver = parseFloat(ua.split("rv:")[1]);
    engine.ie = parseFloat(browser.ver);
  }

  //detect browsers
  browser.ie = engine.ie;
  browser.opera = engine.opera;


  //detect platform
  var p = navigator.platform;
  system.win = p.indexOf("Win") == 0;
  system.mac = p.indexOf("Mac") == 0;
  system.x11 = (p == "X11") || (p.indexOf("Linux") == 0);

  //detect windows operating systems
  if (system.win) {
    if (/Win(?:dows )?([^do]{2})\s?(\d+\.\d+)?/.test(ua)) {
      if (RegExp["$1"] == "NT") {
        switch (RegExp["$2"]) {
          case "5.0":
            system.win = "2000";
            break;
          case "5.1":
            system.win = "XP";
            break;
          case "6.0":
            system.win = "Vista";
            break;
          default:
            system.win = "NT";
            break;
        }
      } else if (RegExp["$1"] == "9x") {
        system.win = "ME";
      } else {
        system.win = RegExp["$1"];
      }
    }
  }

  //mobile devices
  system.iphone = ua.indexOf("iPhone") > -1;
  system.ipod = ua.indexOf("iPod") > -1;
  system.nokiaN = ua.indexOf("NokiaN") > -1;
  system.winMobile = (system.win == "CE");
  system.macMobile = (system.iphone || system.ipod);

  //gaming systems
  system.wii = ua.indexOf("Wii") > -1;
  system.ps = /playstation/i.test(ua);

  //return it
  return {
    engine: engine,
    browser: browser,
    system: system
  };

}();

console.log(JSON.stringify({ browser:client.browser,engine:client.engine,system:client.system},null, 2));