How to Choose a JavaScript Framework

A JavaScript framework may not make you a better programmer, but it will make you more efficient. That alone should be reason enough to choose a JavaScript framework, or library if you prefer. Unless you decide to build your own, there are plenty of options available to developers. However, choosing the right framework can be tricky, and weeding through a mess of opinionated fanboys (myself included) is intimidating.

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

Avoid the Void

There are plenty of occasions when coding JavaScript events where you simply need to call a function, for which an entire event registration model is too lengthy. The most commonly used method is to bind your event to an anchor link. The user clicks and the onclick event is fired, calling a reference to a function. Because the user isn’t actually visiting a URL, something has to be done with the href attribute.

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

Parse JSON with jQuery and JavaScript

While exploring the options for traversing JSON, I discovered that there is no official W3C documentation, or even a draft. As a subset of the ECMAScript language specification, it will probably remain under the governance of ECMA International. So unlike XPath, which is a commonly accepted language for traversing XML, JSON must rely on JavaScript’s object notation.

Reindel, Brian. d'bug (2008). Articles>Web Design>Interaction Design>Ajax

Spruce Up Your Search Box with CSS and a Background Image

Very few designers appreciate the aesthetic of a text input field, and styling form fields cross-browser on any Web site can be a tedious and frustrating experience. The compromise typically involves applying a simple colored border and background to the fields. I think this is the right approach for Web sites and applications that are form field intensive, but the search box plays a special role in the design, and it deserves a little more attention.

Reindel, Brian. d'bug (2008). Articles>Web Design>Forms>CSS

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

jQuery and XML Revisited

In releasing jQuery v.1.2, a decision was made by the development team to drop XPath support from the core. Instead, an officially released XPath jQuery plugin is now available, which provides deprecated functionality. Although initially disappointed by this decision, I was happy to discover that alternative methods for obtaining data from an XML file are still available without the plugin.

Reindel, Brian. d'bug (2008). Articles>Web Design>XML>Ajax

Pageless Pagination: Cease and Desist

Pageless pagination is a substitute for the paging functionality that appears on the majority of Web sites today. A typical paging mechanism is on a search results page, and it uses numbers to represent additional pages of results. For most users this has long been the acceptable browsing standard for everyday surfing, searching and shopping, and it requires little effort to recognize or learn a paging component. In a quest to improve upon outdated methods, someone decided to overhaul this standard. With pageless pagination, when the user scrolls down the page to bring more results into view, the Web site detects that the event is happening. After the scrollbar reaches a threshold, a script grabs more results and dynamically appends them to the bottom of the results already in view.

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

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

The Two Fundamental and Opposing Views of the Web

Conventional wisdom states that a standardized set of computer communication languages, which every device understands, is a necessary component of interoperability. The most popular of these languages being Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). However, in order for this idea to come to fruition, all hardware and software vendors must come to a consensus on implementation techniques, as well as features and functionality. As the Web continues to grow, and the cost of developing new technology decreases, this becomes increasingly difficult to manage.

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

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

What You Need to Know If You Want a Job in Web Development

The true nature of Web development is a complicated metric to gage without being in the field for many years, and without reading about and listening to thousands who are in the field with you. It can be a frustrating experience for any one person graduating college and starting their career, or wanting to transition into a separate discipline. I decided to try and change that with some personal reflection.

Reindel, Brian. d'bug (2008). Careers>Web Design>Assessment

The Five Things Every CSS Beginner Must Know

Being a CSS beginner is difficult because you never know where to start the learning process. If you pose the question to any forum, you will get a myriad of answers, some good, but mostly, not so good. The worst is when you’re instructed to read the W3C documentation. That’s like asking a pilot in training to read the mechanic’s manual for the propeller.

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