category : JavaScript

JavaScript

Getting Started With Node.js and Express 3

I suspect quite a few of those starting with Node are interested in using it for web development. Of the web frameworks available for Node, Express is leading the pack. And version 3 is in beta. I’m just getting started with Node and Express, so I thought I’d help you all get up and running that much more quickly. I won’t get into the boring details of installing Node and NPM. That part is especially easy now that they have Windows and Mac installers available on the Node website.

JavaScript

Backbone.js Application Walkthrough Part 2: Views and Templates – Video Tutorial

We’re moving right along in our video series of tutorials walking you through the process of writing a Backbone.js application. Today we cover the views and embedded templates. There are a number of views here, all pulling from the same models and collections of wine. You’ll see each view, what it’s for, and how it works its magic. Click on through for this long look at Backbone.js views and templates.

JavaScript

Something New... What Will It Be?

After spending 3 nights in a row creating one simple screencast (1 the recording failed, 2 the video was fine but the audio was quiet, 3 the audio was fixed), I didn’t feel like messing with videos another night. So, this time we’re going to do something a little different. Normally I (and now a few other contributors) write about whatever suits our fancy. This time, you – the audience and reason for the existence of this blog – all decide.

JavaScript

Backbone.js Application Walkthrough Part 1: HTML and Models - Video Tutorial

The day everyone has long been waiting for has finally arrived. I’ve just started the first part of a series of posts walking through how to build an actual application using the Backbone.js JavaScript MVC framework. With this first piece of the puzzle I cover the structure of the application and get you started with some HTML plus the model and collection JavaScript code. Let’s take a look!

JavaScript

Feature Detection vs Browser Detection

We’ve all heard time and time again that when you’re trying to determine the JavaScript capabilities of a browser you should avoid user agent string parsing like a horrible plague and instead put your trust in a little thing called feature detection. But why should we? What’s so bad about relying on user agent strings? Also, how do I even use feature detection anyway? Read on and you’ll find the answer to all of these questions.

JavaScript

Programmatic JavaScript Templating With Buildr

We’ve all heard of Templating, heck I’ve written about templating. Templating is a great way to write HTML that is designed to be manipulated and inserted into a document via JavaScript, but it has a very annoying caveat: it’s a huge pain to make templates external. They pretty much have to be inline, which doesn’t allow you to maintain them separately. That’s all about to change.

JavaScript

$script.js vs RequireJS: Dependency Management Comparisons

As JavaScript moves further and further away from the playground programming language that it used to be, and is used more and more as the core for large-scale applications, managing the code starts to become extremely difficult. Splitting the code into multiple files helps with that, though it also adds more complexity in a different way. One way to fight this new complexity is with dependency management libraries, but which one is right for you?

JavaScript

New Project Page: JZ Parse URL

It’s taken too long, but it’s finally completed. The project page for JZ Parse URL is up with full documentation. You can also find it listed on the projects page. Along with this new project comes a few minor changes to the way the project pages are done: files will no longer be directly downloadable from the site, but instead everything is done on GitHub. Also, I’ve decided to make the documentation in the JavaScript files more minimal and instead just link to the project pages. This update will happen soon and will not bring a new version number.

JavaScript

JavaScript Style Guides

Everyone has their own style when coding. For some people, the style they use might be so inconsistent that it looks like they used a program to randomize the code layout so it would confuse everyone as much as possible. In general it’s best to use a consistent coding style, for your own sake, and for the sake of everyone else who might look at your code. To keep things consistent you can use a style guide, which will help you remember and use your rules.

JavaScript

Top 5 Resources for JavaScript Knowledge

A good JavaScript developer, or developer of any kind, knows that it’s very wise to keep up with the times and continually be learning in order to guarantee that their knowledge doesn’t become obsolete. One of the best ways to keep knowledge fresh and up-to-date is to follow blogs that update often, such as this one. But, obviously, this is not the only JavaScript blog out there, and likely not the best. Here, you’ll find the 5 JavaScript blogs I follow the closest and have the most respect for.