Polyfill

A polyfill is a piece of code (usually JavaScript on the Web) used to provide modern functionality on older browsers that do not natively support it.

For example, a polyfill could be used to mimic the functionality of a text-shadow in IE7 using proprietary IE filters, or mimic rem units or media queries by using JavaScript to dynamically adjust the styling as appropriate, or whatever else you require.

The reason why polyfills are not used exclusively is for better functionality and better performance. Native implementations of APIs can do more and are faster than polyfills. For example, the Object.create polyfill only contains the functionalities that are possible in a non-native implementation of Object.create.