Understanding Java  

This paper introduces neophytes to Java. It starts with Java’'s beginnings as a programming language for interactive cable TV boxes and continues through the features of optimization, platform-independence, and object-orientation that make it unique. Next, it dispels the myths surrounding Java, presents solid guidelines for when and when not to use Java, and finally examines today’s practical uses of Java, including enhancing Web pages, managing a business, and delivering sophisticated training modules capable of advanced interactions.

Currie, Cynthia C. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Web Design>Programming>DHTML

Upgrade Web Applications with New Technologies

To maintain success, companies often incorporate the benefits of new and evolving technologies into their star products. Unfortunately, integrating new technologies can sometimes compromise a product's features and adversely affect the time to market. The time it takes for a product development team to become acquainted with the new technology can limit the number of new features added to the product. Discover the most common problems associated with incorporating new technologies into existing products, and learn what steps you can take to avoid these issues and upgrade your products successfully.

Bhattacharya, Shantanu. IBM (2007). Design>Web Design>Programming

Using ActionScript in Macromedia Flash MX 2004: Best Practices

Code it right: Use these best practices as you write your ActionScript.

deHaan, Jen. Adobe (2004). Design>Web Design>Programming>Flash

Views and Forms: Principles of Task Flow for Web Applications Part 1

One of the defining elements of web applications is their support for the editing and manipulation of stored data. Unlike the typical conversation that goes on between a user and a content-centric website however, this additional capability requires a more robust dialog between user and application.

Baxley, Bob. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Design>Web Design>Programming

What Ever Happened to Web Engineering?

Does it ever occur to you that today's Web developers could learn a thing or two from traditional computer programming? The cranky user talks about the foundations of software engineering and asks where in the Web those best practices have disappeared to.

Seebach, Peter. IBM (2007). Articles>Web Design>Programming

What is a Web Application?

What distinguishes a web application from a traditional, content-based website and what are some of the unique design challenges associated with web applications? A reasonable launching point is the more fundamental question, 'What is an application?'

Baxley, Bob. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Design>Web Design>Programming

What's All the Jive About Java?   

Java and JavaScript are two of the newest 'kids on the block' when it comes to the latest developments for the computing and Internet world. Already, many are predicting that within a very few years Java will be the programming language of choice. Already, JavaScripts are nearly ubiquitous on the World Wide Web, largely because of their cross-platform nature and ease of use. And already, many technical communicators are beginning to consider what impact these new tools will have on their careers. While relatively few technical communicators will deal directly with JavaScripts and even fewer with Java programming, those involved in Web page development and online (HTML) documentation will find them valuable to learn and use.

Beck, Charles O. STC Proceedings (1997). Design>Web Design>Programming>DHTML

When You Can't Trust the Browser

I like Opera--the browser, not the musical spectacle. I like that it puts small demands on your hardware. I like that it displays Web pages quickly and accurately. I like that it has always been close to the standards suggested by the W3C, especially for CSS styles. It is always worthwhile to preview pages in Opera. Opera is a little weak in event handling, and it has been slow to adopt the document object model. But in terms of page presentation, Opera shows a Web page the way it oughta look. It displays a great looking page, and it loads fast. And everybody likes the little guy. The troubles I have with Opera, as a code writer, are all derived from a single bad habit of the browser. Opera is a little loose with the truth.

Tibbetts, Kenneth. Internet.com (2002). Design>Web Design>Programming>DHTML

Are We Designers or Developers?

On the about page of this site I used to call myself a “developer/designer/occasional writer”. It’s a bit confusing, and I still find it hard to know what to answer when someone asks me what I do for a living. Am I a Web designer? A Web developer? A Web programmer? All of them? Neither? It really is a difficult question to give a simple answer to.

Johansson, Roger. 456 Berea Street (2007). Careers>Web Design>Programming>Writing

Mastering JavaScript — Concept and Resource Guide

There is not a single interpreted language used today that causes more excitement, confusion, disdain, and conflict than JavaScript. The language is so incredibly flexible that it is difficult to separate a developer’s choice of coding style from JavaScript best practices.

Reindel, Brian. d'bug (2008). Articles>Web Design>Programming>JavaScript

JavaScript Shorthand Tips and Tricks

There is no official ECMAScript or JavaScript language feature called “shorthand”. Developers are responsible for coining the phrase, probably after realizing that terms like Ternary Condition are a bit archaic. The Mozilla Core JavaScript Guide does an excellent job of highlighting many of these shorthand techniques throughout tutorials, but I thought it best to have a definitive list all in one place.

Reindel, Brian. d'bug (2008). Articles>Web Design>Programming>JavaScript

Core JavaScript 1.5 Guide

Getting started with JavaScript is easy: all you need is a modern Web browser. This guide includes some JavaScript features which are only currently available in the latest versions of Firefox (and other Gecko powered browsers), so using the most recent version of Firefox is recommended.

Mozilla.org (2008). Articles>Web Design>Programming>JavaScript

Will You Need a JavaScript Framework on Your Next Project?

One of the pitfalls of using a JavaScript framework, especially among beginners, is the ability to quickly lose sight of what is specific to the framework, and what is specific to the core JavaScript language. However, as bandwidth constraints continue to dissolve, and browser compatibility issues erode, it makes sense to consider a framework on each project. Whether or not you actually use a framework after these considerations are made, is totally up to you.

Reindel, Brian. d'bug (2008). Articles>Web Design>Programming>JavaScript

Making a Cross-Platform AJAX-Based Web Application

I will go through how to make a full-blown widget that uses AJAX technology. It fetches news from a newsfeed source, presents them nicely to you, includes some eyecandy and of course lets you customize the amount of news items, refresh time and which category of news you want to be shown.

Mendoza, Nicolas. Opera (2008). Articles>Web Design>Programming>Ajax

Extending The JavaScript Date Object with User Defined Methods

Applications, particularly business applications, can often require a lot of date manipulation, but that code could be simplified if JavaScript’s core Date object had some additional methods. In this article, I will show you how to add custom methods to the Date object that are inherited by each date instance.

O'Sullivan, Lawrence. Digital Web Magazine (2008). Articles>Web Design>Programming>JavaScript

Offline Ajax with Apache Derby

People love Ajax applications so much that they are willing to use them instead of their desktop equivalents. The only problem occurs when they fail to have network access. This is when an offline feature is necessary. Apache Derby is a great option for enabling offline access to Ajax-powered applications. Learn how to use Apache Derby as a local data store that can be used to take your Ajax application offline.

Galpin, Michael. IBM (2008). Articles>Web Design>Programming>Ajax

Parse a String Using JavaScript

A handy trick for Web Developers in the ability to parse a string to check for a given substring. In plain English, this means checking if a word or part of a word is contained within text. This tutorial demonstrates how to do this using JavaScript.

Jason, Chris. ChrisJason.com (2007). Articles>Web Design>Programming>JavaScript

Seven Reasons Why Web Apps Fail

I’m not one to believe that we’re in a Bubble 2.0 or anything like that (aren’t we always bubbular?), but here are a few ideas about why some of the web apps out there fail.

Porter, Joshua. Bokardo (2006). Articles>Web Design>Programming>User Experience

Cloud Computing Versus Grid Computing

Want to know more about cloud and grid computing? Learn how you can use Infrastructure as a Service to get a full computer infrastructure using Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). See the similarities, differences, and issues to consider in grid and cloud computing. Explore some of the security issues and choices for Web development in the cloud, and see how you can be environmentally friendly using cloud computing.

Myerson, Judith. IBM (2009). Articles>Web Design>Programming>Collaboration

Advanced Debugging with JavaScript

When used effectively, JavaScript debuggers help find and squash errors in your JavaScript code. To become an advanced JavaScript debugger, you’ll need to know about the debuggers available to you, the typical JavaScript debugging workflow, and code requirements for effective debugging. In this article, we’ll discuss advanced debugging techniques for diagnosing and treating bugs using a sample web application.

Mills, Chris and Hallvord R. M. Steen. List Apart, A (2009). Articles>Web Design>Programming>JavaScript

Language Support for Web Service Development

We will demonstrate how enhancements to the XJ language (http://alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/xj) facilitate the development of Web Service applications.

Peshansky, Igor and Mukund Raghavachari. XML 2006 (2006). Articles>Web Design>Programming>XML

ActionScript 2.0 to 3.0 Migration Cheat Sheet  

This cheat sheet covers both ActionScript 2.0 and ActionScript 3.0 and is organized to help those who need to switch to 3.0. The functions and classes of ActionScript 2.0 are to the left of each section, followed by their equivalents in ActionScript 3.0.

ActionScriptCheatSheet.com (2009). Resources>Web Design>Programming>Flash

JavaScript Cheat Sheet

This cheat sheet is logically organized into DOM methods, functions, regular expressions, etc. It’s easy to use and a great reference for all common JavaScript uses. The guide is not only excellent for JavaScript beginners (covering items as basic as the syntax for putting JavaScript into HTML) but is also suited to programmers at an advanced level (referring to more advanced JavaScript functionality).

Added Bytes (2007). Resources>Web Design>Programming>JavaScript

Starting Hamlets  

Developing web-based applications can be done using a variety of tools and languages. However, the Java™ programming language and Java servlets are the ideal choice because of a number of attractive features, namely, portability, efficiency, safety, extensibility, and flexibility. Few viable alternatives exist that can be considered equally powerful. Over the past few years, I have developed an easy-to-use, easy-to-understand framework based on Java servlets to facilitate the development of web-based applications. The framework (called Hamlets) is the result of a radical simplification effort. In this article I show you step by step how to write your first web-based application in Java using Hamlets.

Pawlitzek, Rene. IBM (2009). Articles>Web Design>Programming

JavaScript MVC

While MVC is a familiar term to those in back-end application development—using frameworks such as Struts, Ruby on Rails, and CakePHP—MVC’s origin in user interface development lends itself to structuring client-side applications. Let’s examine what MVC is, see how we can use it to rework an example project, and consider some existing MVC frameworks.

Snook, Jonathan. List Apart, A (2009). Articles>Web Design>Programming>JavaScript