Quote: "1. Why do browsers do this differently?
I am sure every browser does it differently because they think they look the best. IE probably makes it look good on Windows. Safari makes them compatible with the look and feel of Mac OS. Firefox according to this browser other elements, etc. (And, as stated at thirty, it was not standardized.)
Quote: "2. Since I cannot rely on a valid insert attribute, I was wondering what the correct algorithm is?
You can try to change it if it is important. Set up a test page and call it in your browser. Use the eye-dropper / color-picker utility to select different colors. With enough samples, you should find a template for this browser.
Quote: "There must be a general algorithm that I cannot find ..."
Not if every browser does it differently. Each of them will have its own algorithm.
EDIT for later observation of the OP:
Quote: “Edit: I want to point out an example of using a drawing program that needs an insert style. Can someone give me an example of what they will use for this? (Is this part of the question better directed to the constructors stack?)
You seem to be looking for one specific answer that doesn't exist. I can’t give you an example of what I will use, since modern graphics programs (Photoshop) will do this for me and then give me enough options that literally give millions of results when combined; frame color, backlight color, shadow color, depth, angle, thickness, profile, etc. Ask 20 people what they consider to be an “ideal” insert, and you will get 20 different answers (opinions really), and then we will return to the reason why it looks different in each browser (see No. 1 above). So yes, in the context of "programming" issues, this last part of your OP is probably off topic.
Additional random thoughts:
Why is border-style not standardized? IMHO, I think this property is simply not used enough to require any serious standardization efforts, or perhaps there is a lot of controversy in the standards community. I believe that all CSS properties that require standardization, in some way, take precedence (popularity, utility?), And this one has not yet made a cut or combined all of them. Personally, I believe that such property is too closely linked to constantly changing trends. those. - 10 years ago we saw to see many tables with very thick "embossed" borders. Nowadays, many projects use multiple borders or very thin borders, if any. Again, this is only a matter of taste and opinion.