Archive
Canvas UI for MooTools
Finally, a decent implementation of panels using MooTools, which means I can finish my migration from YUI+Scriptaculous to MooTools some time this year if time allows.
37 Steps to Perfect Markup
Some of the questions go back to basics, so consider it a refreshment of things “we all think we know until someone asks about them”, for instance “31. What is the difference between abbr and acronym?”
2 things you have to have
I’m back after a bit of a hiatus with vacation, Xmas and all, so lets get cranking, shall we?
I’ve been meaning to post about 2 tools that I’ve become addicted to over the past little while, so others could get high on them with me. Chances are you already know about both, but if you don’t you can thank me in the comments :)
Firebug (http://www.getfirebug.com)
Screenshots won’t do it justice, you *have* to check it out. Here’s a short (and incomplete) list of things you can do with it,
- Inspect and edit HTML (live!)
- Inspect and edit CSS (yes, live as well)
- Debug and profile JavaScript (you’ll use this a lot, admit it)
- Monitor network activity (much much better than Google’s page analyzer at that)
- … the list goes on, you have to see it to believe it!
I should point out, that even though its free (as in beer), please chip in with a small donation to ensure continuous improvement (I’m not at the receiving end of it, by the way, just spreading the word), this tool can really change the way you do web development (for the better).
Selenium (http://www.openqa.org/selenium)
SUnit for your web applications that runs directly in the browser(s), need I say more? ;)
IE6: Start of the End
Via Ars Technica comes the long awaited bit of news,
Windows XP SP2 users who have Auto Update turned on will soon have their Internet Explorer 6 install upgraded to IE7. Microsoft says that it began rolling IE 7 out to Windows XP SP2 users via Automatic Update last week, with about 1 million copies being sent out per day.
Personally, I think its a great thing. We’ve been missing consistency on the browser landscape for a while, and while I do realize that IT administrators are likely to suppress installs of IE7 on corporate networks for a while, the wider it spreads everywhere else, the better for all of us who have to deal with trying to support a gazillion of browsers every day.
Optimizing page load times
Here’s a very useful (although somewhat technical) study of page load times and factors that may influence them, all more relevant in light of skyrocketing (mis)use of Ajax on the client side.
It is widely accepted that fast-loading pages improve the user experience. In recent years, many sites have started using AJAX techniques to reduce latency. Rather than round-trip through the server retrieving a completely new page with every click, often the browser can either alter the layout of the page instantly or fetch a small amount of HTML, XML, or javascript from the server and alter the existing page. In either case, this significantly decreases the amount of time between a user click and the browser finishing rendering the new content.
However, for many sites that reference dozens of external objects, the majority of the page load time is spent in separate HTTP requests for images, javascript, and stylesheets. AJAX probably could help, but speeding up or eliminating these separate HTTP requests might help more, yet there isn’t a common body of knowledge about how to do so.
Hat’s off to Aaron Hopkins.
Hint: Validating your XHTML
[I've been meaning to start posting little hints that may (or may not) help fellow Seaside developers get on with their days just a little better. So how about I give it a shot and see if this becomes something people want to see more of or less of, eh?]
If you develop with Web Standards in mind (and here’s why you should) you’ll surely want to validate XHTML crafted for Seaside. And not just once in a while, but often, just like your unit tests (wink-wink). Unfortunately little ‘XHTML’ link in developer toolbar uses W3C’s simple referrer mechanism, which won’t work unless your development URLs are accessible from the Outside (mine are all http://localhost:xxx/yyy). I’m sure there’s many tools out there that can do it locally, but one I use every day is the trusty Web Developer Extension for Firefox, which enables Ctrl+Shift+A (on Windows, anyway) to submit actual contents of a current page to W3C for analysis. Its so slick, its not even funny: hit the magic combination,
and wait for results to appear shortly,
Simple to use, doesn’t require installing any additional software and always up to date – sounds like a good deal to me.
Web Directions North 2007
Here’s a bit of news I couldn’t wait to pass on! The first annual Web Directions North is coming to my hometown, the beautiful Vancouver, BC.
Put together by designers and developers, for designer and developers, this conference is brought to you by Dave Shea, Derek Featherstone, Maxine Sherrin and John Allsopp.
Over two days and nights, Web Directions North is packed tight with sessions by renowned, inspiring, entertaining speakers and experts, parties and other events.
Beginning with an optional day of workshops from some of the web’s best educators, and rounded off with two optional day’s skiing and boarding and Blackcomb Whistler, Web Directions North is 2007’s web design and development event not to be missed.
Now, I’ve had the privilege of working with Dave on our latest project (VisualWorks + Seaside, of course) and let me tell you one thing, I’m really looking forward to meeting many more talented people like him this coming February.
