Padding button looks even on browser inspector, but not on phone

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Summary

The issue at hand is a discrepancy in rendering between the browser inspector’s phone view and an actual phone’s Google Chrome browser. Specifically, a Primeng button appears to have centered padding in the browser inspector, but this centering is lost when viewed on a physical phone. This discrepancy suggests a potential issue with CSS styling or browser-specific rendering.

Root Cause

The root cause of this issue can be attributed to several factors, including:

  • CSS styling inconsistencies between the browser inspector and the physical phone’s browser
  • Browser-specific rendering quirks, such as differences in how Chrome handles CSS on desktop versus mobile devices
  • Potential issues with Primeng’s CSS or Sass compilation

Why This Happens in Real Systems

This issue can occur in real systems due to:

  • Inconsistent CSS styling across different devices and browsers
  • Insufficient testing on physical devices, relying solely on browser inspectors for testing
  • Lack of understanding of browser-specific rendering quirks and CSS inconsistencies

Real-World Impact

The real-world impact of this issue includes:

  • Poor user experience due to inconsistent rendering of UI elements
  • Difficulty in debugging and identifying the root cause of the issue
  • Increased development time spent on troubleshooting and resolving the issue

Example or Code

p-button.green-button {
  width: fit-content;
}

p-button.green-button.w-100 {
  width: 100%;
  > button.p-button, > button.p-button:not(:disabled):hover {
    width: 100%;
  }
}

a.p-button.green-button.p-component, 
a.p-button.p-component:not(:disabled):hover, 
p-button.green-button > button.p-button, 
p-button.green-button > button.p-button:not(:disabled):hover {
  background-color: green;
  border-color: green;
  padding: 5px 15px;
  border-radius: 8px;
  > span {
    color: white;
    font-size: 21px;
  }
}

How Senior Engineers Fix It

Senior engineers would approach this issue by:

  • Thoroughly inspecting the CSS styling and Sass compilation to identify any inconsistencies
  • Testing on physical devices to reproduce the issue and understand the browser-specific rendering quirks
  • Applying browser-specific CSS fixes or using CSS frameworks that account for these inconsistencies
  • Implementing robust testing to ensure consistent rendering across different devices and browsers

Why Juniors Miss It

Junior engineers may miss this issue due to:

  • Lack of experience with browser-specific rendering quirks and CSS inconsistencies
  • Insufficient understanding of CSS styling and Sass compilation
  • Overreliance on browser inspectors for testing, rather than testing on physical devices
  • Inadequate testing and debugging techniques, leading to difficulty in identifying the root cause of the issue