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I am new at a company that has a saas web application, which uses iframes to load content from several different servers (all operated by us). Is there any known compelling reasons to use iFrames instead of DOM manipulation?

I've tried searching google, stack overflow and programmers, but most questions and answers seem to be related to content pages, and not software. SEO is not a concern. We have a known user base with specific browser/os requirements.

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closed as too broad by MichaelT, GlenH7, Snowman, gnat, Kilian Foth Nov 14 '14 at 12:03

There are either too many possible answers, or good answers would be too long for this format. Please add details to narrow the answer set or to isolate an issue that can be answered in a few paragraphs. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
    
I do intend on having this conversation with the people who had influence on developing the system, but I'd like to do some research beforehand. –  Christopher Meyers Nov 13 '14 at 16:15
2  
Please read: stackoverflow.com/questions/23178505/… –  Ryan Nov 13 '14 at 16:23
    
Sharing your research helps everyone. Tell us what you've tried and why it didn’t meet your needs. This demonstrates that you’ve taken the time to try to help yourself, it saves us from reiterating obvious answers, and most of all it helps you get a more specific and relevant answer. Also see How to Ask –  gnat Nov 13 '14 at 16:23
    
@Ryan Thanks for the link, a good reference, though slightly different from my question, which is specific to saas web applications, not content pages. There are no issues with SEO, or linking/bookmarking. –  Christopher Meyers Nov 13 '14 at 16:34
    
specific example –  gnat Nov 13 '14 at 16:38

1 Answer 1

up vote 3 down vote

It's just easier, and a pragmatic solution. iFrame keeps everything in it's own semi-private window, so there's little risk of CSS or JS conflicts.

Not the greatest for user experience, but simple and effective especially for internal facing apps.

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I feel like iframes elicit an groan of displeasure from devs these days, but you are spot on in that they can isolate functionality without worrying about JS/CSS/AJAX issues. –  Graham Nov 13 '14 at 17:31

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