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Confessions of a Web Developer VIII

David Walsh — Tue, 18 May 2010 13:53:10 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve gotten a few things off of my chest and since I’m always full of peeves and annoyances I thought it was time to unleash:

Rock star developers get lots of schwag and job offers every day. It makes me think to myself: “If I were an actual rock star, the offers would be sex and drugs.” A very difficult decision as to what I’d rather be…..
“Webmasters” are a lot like a “Porn Star”: both get their status before they’ve done or proven anything.
If more people knew about Dojo’s Dijit library, Dojo could be the most popular toolkit out there. No other toolkit (maybe excluding Ext) available has that level of UI framework to go along with its base framework.
MooTools 1.3 is the first step in incrementing MooTools to 2.0. Implementing Slick is a great start — there’s no more fitting name for this selector engine than that.
I spend 40+ hours a week with Dojo team members and probably another 40+ with the MooTools team. Loads of brilliant people around me. I sometimes feel completely out-classed…
…although it does make me feel important since, at any moment of time, I can ping the head figures of Dojo, jQuery, and MooTools.
Apple wont support Flash. Am I the only person that doesn’t give a shit?
Don’t like Facebook’s privacy policies? Close your account and create your own site. Simple. Facebook has put forth the money, time, and effort to create the site. You are owed NOTHING. STFU or move on.
Getting beat up by a bug all day can be frustrating but the good thing is that the given bug will never victimize you again.
I was playing the “guess which framework this business’ website uses” game and I set my target on McDonald’s. I said it would be jQuery. It was. Very fitting and an easy guess.
Sometimes I look out my window and wish I worked in the outdoors. Then I realized that I’m a sickly, small person and that I’d probably die within a week.
Crucify Microsoft and not its current browser developer team.
It pisses me off that developers who blog are made to feel guilty for having ads on their site. We’re giving away code for free; we’re charging, essentially, for our time. And our time is worth it, so don’t bitch.
There’s no better way to create instant comedy on IM than by using the “/me _____” command. “/me” = gold.
I haven’t touched a server-side script in weeks…and I’m more than OK with that.
I felt like a total attention whore to create a David Walsh Blog page on Facebook, but a lot of people had asked for it. So deal with it.

As always I’ve lobbed the first pitch — time for you to tee off.

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: Confessions of a Web Developer VIII

jQuery Podcast & Essential jQuery and MooTools Snippets

David Walsh — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:24:03 +0000

Many of you probably already know this but I like to consider myself a bit of a JavaScript chameleon. If you know that then you probably know I’m a MooTools fanatic that periodically dabbles with jQuery. I’m happy to announce that I was able to join Elijah Manor and Ralph Whitbeck on the jQuery podcast this past week to talk jQuery, MooTools, and web development in general. Head on over to the jQuery blog for more information or iTunes to grab the podcast.

As an extension of my podcast appearance, I wanted to share a few code snippets to make your introduction to MooTools or jQuery easier.

Featured jQuery & MooTools Snippets

Using jQuery and MooTools Together

Did you know that you can use jQuery and MooTools within the same page? It’s easy to!

Using Sizzle Within MooTools

Prefer to use jQuery’s selector engine within MooTools? No problem — here’s how:

//just as reader "Ryan" mentioned....
Window.$$ = function(selector){
	return new Elements(new Sizzle(selector));
}

jQuery and MooTools Link Nudging

Link nudging is a classy, subtle effect that makes your websites more dynamic.

/* jquery */
$.fn.nudge = function(params) {
	//set default parameters
	params = $.extend({
		amount: 20,
		duration: 300,
		property: 'padding',
		direction: 'left',
		toCallback: function() {},
		fromCallback: function() {}
	}, params);
	//For every element meant to nudge...
	this.each(function() {
		//variables
		var $t = $(this);
		var $p = params;
		var dir = $p.direction;
		var prop = $p.property + dir.substring(0,1).toUpperCase() + dir.substring(1,dir.length);
		var initialValue = $t.css(prop);
		/* fx */
		var go = {}; go[prop] = parseInt($p.amount) + parseInt(initialValue);
		var bk = {}; bk[prop] = initialValue;
		
		//Proceed to nudge on hover
		$t.hover(function() {
					$t.stop().animate(go, $p.duration, '', $p.toCallback);
				}, function() {
					$t.stop().animate(bk, $p.duration, '', $p.fromCallback);
				});
	});
	return this;
};

/* jquery usages */
$(document).ready(function() {
	/* usage 1 */
	$('#nudgeUs li a').nudge();
	/* usage 2 */
	$('#nudgeUs2 li a').nudge({
		property: 'margin',
		direction: 'left',
		amount: 30,
		duration: 400,
		toCallback: function() { $(this).css('color','#f00'); },
		fromCallback: function() { $(this).css('color','#000'); }
	});
});

/* mootols link nudge */
window.addEvent('domready',function() {
	$$('#nudges a').addEvents({
		'mouseenter': function() { this.tween('padding-left',20); },
		'mouseleave': function() { this.tween('padding-left',0); }
	});
});

View jQuery Demo View MooTools Demo

jQuery and MooTools Search Bookmarklets

These bookmarklets will allow you to highlight text on a page and search the jQuery or MooTools websites to learn more about the phrase.

jQuery Bookmarklet MooTools Bookmarklet

jQuery Events within MooTools

The following MooTools snippet allows you to use jQuery-style syntax for event listening.

//hash the element.natives so we can do stuff with it
var hash = new Hash(Element.NativeEvents);
//remove items that need to be replaced, add their replacements
hash.erase('mouseover').erase('mouseout').erase('DOMMouseScroll');
hash.include('mouseenter',1).include('mouseleave',1);
//initialize this
var eventHash = new Hash({});
//for every event type, add to our hash
hash.getKeys().each(function(event){
	eventHash[event] = function(fn) {
		this.addEvent(event,fn);
		return this;
	}
});
//make it happen
Element.implement(eventHash);

JavaScript FTW!

Here are a few other MooTools and jQuery tutorials you may like:

Isn’t the JavaScript community great? MooTools FTW!

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: jQuery Podcast & Essential jQuery and MooTools Snippets

NetTuts: Make Your MooTools Code Shorter, Faster, and Stronger

David Walsh — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 02:06:28 +0000

My latest NetTuts tutorial has hit! From the post:

MooTools is one of the most flexible, modular, and well written JavaScript frameworks available. So many people use it but many of them don’t optimize their code. This post will provide you with fifteen simple tips for making your MooTools code shorter, faster, and stronger.

Don’t miss it! http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/javascript-ajax/make-your-mootools-code-shorter-faster-and-stronger/

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: NetTuts: Make Your MooTools Code Shorter, Faster, and Stronger

Confessions of a Web Developer VI

David Walsh — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:11:24 +0000

It’s been quite a while since I’ve gotten a few things off of my chest and since I’m always full of peeves and annoyances I thought it was time to unleash:

Who loses in the browser wars? Developers. Designers. Users. I hope the browser development teams are having fun though…
Learning jQuery made me love MooTools even more. Go figure.
For those of you that have loads of trouble with your JavaScript: maybe you need to start looking at your CSS?
I’m completely humbled by jQuery’s drive and organization. They simply know how to publicize, organize, and make their community happy. I really hope to duplicate that effort with the MooTools team.
The government-issued warnings about not using IE aren’t something us developers should get our hopes up about. It’s a cute side note but it will have very little impact on the numbers.
You’re crazy if you don’t put your quality MooTools plugins on the MooTools Forge. You get quality feedback, website traffic, and bug reports. It’s the most valuable tool I’ve come upon in quite a while.
As one of the moderators for Script & Style, I ask roundup creators to ask themselves this when they create each post: what value does this post bring? Some roundups are brilliant but others offer little value, like “25 Best jQuery Lightboxes”. Ummmm…do any of them work? If so, why do you need to list 25?
For those of you who really love your job: consider yourselves lucky. Some days can be such a struggle for some of us.
I’m shocked that some rich company doesn’t come and hire the entire MooTools team. A team of brilliant developers that are used to working together….it almost seems like a no-brainer.
Remember Chrome Frame? Me either…
The lack of accountability I see from some web vendors is criminal. Taking weeks to make basic updates or charging outrageous sums to fix problems they created. Absolutely shocking.
I’ve concluded the IE6 issue that bothers me the most is the lack of transparent PNG support.
I’d be lying if I said the World Cup isn’t a consideration when I think about going freelance.
Media Temple has treated me very well; both as a sponsor and a customer.
I’ve never been a huge fan of pseudo code. I understand its purpose and will see it in extreme purposes but I prefer to dive in and work it out in my head.
I consider it a gift that I can bring my work home with me. I consider it a curse that I can bring my work home with me.
I got asked by a client for a counter last week….

You know the drill. This is where you flame me…

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: Confessions of a Web Developer VI

2009 David Walsh Blog Year in Review

David Walsh — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:44:49 +0000

Another year has passed and I wanted to share my thoughts on all the posts and events that shaped my blog (and life) during 2009.

Joining the MooTools Team

My biggest achievement during 2009 was becoming a member of the MooTools Core development team. I had been writing MooTools tutorials since my blog had started and apparently that paid off as Aaron Newton asked me to think about contributing to the project in January. Shortly thereafter I was asked by Valerio Proietti to join the team. It was a huge honor and still is. I love my MooTools teammates and contributors as brothers and look forward to continued success with the team. MooTools FTW.

MooTools T-Shirts For The Masses

I was also able to connect with Roddy Richards of the excellent Startup Schwag service to get MooTools shirts to all of their subscribers. It was a huge success and I look forward to working more with Startup Schwag in the future.

Pick Your Poison: I Learned jQuery

I took some time to learn jQuery this year and I’m glad I did. I see it’s place in the JavaScript world and feel like I’m a better programmer for it. I look forward to seeing what John and his team put forth in January. No doubt more good stuff — congrats to the jQuery team on their continued success.

Coding Confidence

I really impressed with some of the plugins I created this year. Not that I thought I wasn’t good enough but like every good programmer, I always had that voice telling me “you’re missing something.” This year I told that voice TO STFU and created a few plugins I always wanted to make: LazyLoad, ContextMenu, Quickboxes, and Dotter. Those are only a few of them — I really feel as though I stepped my game up in 2009.

Tweet What?

I joined the Twitter craze in 2009 and it opened up a new world to me. Twitter’s been a great source of feedback, website traffic, and professional networking. I have over 3,000 followers at this point. I must be, in a word….riveting.

Networking and Relationships

I was able to connect with some fellow developers closely this year. I’ve had good personal and professional conversations with jQuery’s Rey Bango, MooTools Contributor Darren Waddell, Pete Higgins, and many others. Great developers and great people.

Blog Traffic Booming

Blog traffic really exploded this year. Traffic quadrupled and with that came more pressure to write good blog posts. Hopefully I did OK.

Goals For 2010

I hope to double traffic over the next year. That seems like a lofty goal but I think I can do it. If nothing else, I can just post nudie pics of Christina Ricci, right?
Have 30 quality MooTools plugins posted to the MooTools Forge. I hope you do too.
Write 2-3 more posts for NetTuts.
Make you and everyone else know how f’ing awesome the MooTools JavaScript framework is.
Increase the quality of posts. That sounds generic but it’s something I always aim to do.

Thank you all for reading! I hope to live up to expectation in 2010!

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: 2009 David Walsh Blog Year in Review

What I’m Thankful For: 2009 Web Edition

David Walsh — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:14:40 +0000

I’d like to take a moment this Thanksgiving to thank some people that deserved to be.

I’d like to thank the MooTools team for all of the support and hard work. I feel truly honored to be around such intelligent, driven group of individuals. I’d like to specifically thank Aaron Newton and Valerio Proietti for being great leaders and advisers. MooTools FTW.
I’d like to thank members of the MooTools community for all of their hard work. Sometimes I don’t think we all realize just how much we’re changing the web. Keep up the good work MooToolers!
I’d like to thank friends like Chris Coyier and Eric Wendelin for letting me bounce ideas off of them, however rubbish they may be.
I’d like to thank Babel Fish for allowing me to easily translate senseless phrases to other languages so that I may send said messages to foreign members of the MooTools team.
I’d like to thank Rey Bango for being my whipping boy whenever I need to talk smack to someone.
I’d like to thank Twitter for creating a service that allows me to be riveting in 140 characters or less.
I’d like to thank DirecTv for allowing to purchase not one but two soccer packages. I get to see EPL, SPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue, Russian League, and Champhions League. In turn I’d like to thank Darren Waddell for being patient with me as I ask questions and initially attempted to be a Chelsea fan. I’ve seen the errors of my ways: go Gunners!
I’d like to thank Internet Explorer for continuing to encourage my creativity and making me think out each piece of my JavaScript code.
I’d like to thank my advertisers who are unknowingly paying for the rock I just bought.
I’d like to thank all of the crappy sites our there for giving me so many ideas for improvements.
I’d like to thank the developers and designers that follow me here, provide encouragement and constructive criticism, and reach out to help with projects. You guys make all the time I spend on this blog worth it.

Thank you again!

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: What I’m Thankful For: 2009 Web Edition

Bold Web Predictions for 2010

David Walsh — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:44:43 +0000

With another year coming to a close, it’s time to look toward the near future. The following are my predictions for the web in 2010.

Twitter will steal a bit of Google’s search thunder.

Twitter challenge Google search? You bet. The advantage twitter has over Google search is that Twitter provides almost to-the-second search results so if you want the most recent content, you can hit Twitter. While Google analyzes static content, Twitter provides you the “buzz”, or most recently/frequently talked about links/information in a condensed format. Sometimes fewer options and information is a good thing.

Gmail and GChat will slowly become Google Wave.

Wave is clearly Google’s successor to vanilla email (via Gmail) and instant messaging. Don’t look for Gmail to disappear completely during 2010 but I expect Wave to completely integrate email capabilities by the end of 2010.

Facebook will grow in popularity despite continuing to disappointing its own users; Your mother will join Facebook.

Unfortunately Facebook will continue to add features that make their site more difficult to use and, in doing so, will continue to disregard the fury of its users. Facebook will continue to “out-think the room” in the features it adds. Facebook will also push its “Lite” version more toward an older audience. Your mother, in turn, will join. MySpace will continue to become the Geocities of social websites.

Internet Explorer 6 support will finally be dropped from 90+% of websites.

Many websites have already dropped IE6 support, which I feel is too soon, but we should all be able to rejoice by the end of 2010. Windows 7 will have been out for over a year and IT departments will be pushed into upgrading from XP so as to not allow employees to be two operating system versions behind. Persons with older PCs will also opt to upgrade to a newer system due to highly competitive pricing by Dell, Compaq, and Toshiba.

Webkit-based browsers will overtake Firefox; Mozilla will face a Web Designer/Developer rebellion.

Google Chrome has quickly become a developer favorite during 2009 and there’s no reason to believe that affection will slow during 2010. Expect Chrome to debut a flexible plugin system during 2010 which will meet or exceed the flexibility provided by Firefox. As a result of Firebug’s bugs and memory problems, Mozilla will start to draw the ire of the developers that made them so popular.

Windows 7 will be a giant success (on a Windows level).

Due to the garbage OS known as Vista and continued successful marketing by Microsoft, Windows 7 will become a huge success. Lets not discount the improvements made by Windows 7 though — its UI and functionality improvements are to be recognized. IT departments will most definitely be pushed to update their outdated XP machines, begrudgingly or not. Mac fanboys wont notice a thing.

The MooTools JavaScript framework will boom in popularity thanks to the plugin forge and MooTools 2.

Having a central repository for quality MooTools plugins will increase the usage of the JavaScript framework. MooTools 2, with its improvements in every piece of the framework, will turn the heads of developers using other libraries. I also foresee users of other frameworks, looking for a more advanced OOP approach, giving MooTools a solid shot.

Digg will completely lose its developer/designer userbase and become “just another funny pics/vids” site.

Diggers’ habits of promoting stupid pictures and videos will essentially ruin that last shreds of credibility the site has left and users will continue to leave. Kevin Rose will take “less of a role” with Digg in an effort to distance himself from Digg’s direction.

The David Walsh Blog will continue to ascend.

More sweet MooTools, jQuery, CSS, PHP, and AJAX tutorials on the way…but then again, you already knew this.

What do you think? Am I crazy? Are these easy predictions? Tell me!

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: Bold Web Predictions for 2010

An Open Letter to You, Webmaster II

David Walsh — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:33:34 +0000

Dear Webmaster,

It’s been over a year since I last wrote. Business is booming for me which reminded me to get in touch with you again. I’m shocked at the advancements you’ve made!

Wow — you’ve gotten acquainted with JavaScript frameworks! In fact, it appears you’ve gotten so good with the popular JavaScript frameworks that you’re using multiple in each of your client websites. I see jQuery, MooTools, and Dojo in the same page! Good idea — the more frameworks you add to the page, the more plugins you can add without needing to code any JavaScript yourself. Well thought-out. I also see that you’re adding JavaScript frameworks for simple getElementById() selection — why not? I’m sure you’ll use more advanced JavaScript on your client’s website at some point, so best to include the libraries now.

I also noticed that you’ve completely dropped support of Internet Explorer 6. My favorite touch is the “upgrade your browser” message you’ve added to your client websites, no doubt without their permission. I admire your resolve — why should you go through the hassle of spending an extra hour to make your site work in IE6? Let the visitor suffer and the client lose business — you don’t need the headache of dealing with IE6. Another intelligent philosophy.

You’ve obviously taken a search engine optimization class because I can see loads of keywords in every sentence within the content area. Writing content for the user is overrated — writing content for Google? Brilliant! Who cares if the sentences are so bloated the visitor can’t read them; they wouldn’t have gotten to the client’s website without Google! And I see that despite no search engines still supporting meta keywords, you’re still selling them. The client doesn’t know any better so we’ll keep that between you and I. I also see that your page file names are stuff with 5-10 keywords…genius! Those will most definitely rank highly!

I see you’ve chosen to keep your CSS verbose. Shorthand CSS is clearly a fad that you aren’t going to get tricked into — clever thinking! Of course shorthand CSS is less code but hell, there’s a lot to remember when you use shorthand CSS! And using text-transform to capitalize letters? Please! Why use CSS when you can simply capitalize verbiage with PHP’s or easier yet, type in the text with caps-lock cemented down?

You’ve added your personal Twitter feed to your own website — great! Sure you often cuss in your tweets and post links to inappropriate media but you SOMETIMES post web-relevant tweets which will help you gain clients. What’s also impressive is that you’ve implemented Google Adsense on your website — extra income FTW! Who cares if ads for other web design agencies are shown? They already on your website so they’ve found their desired vendor — you!

Your website also states that you offer no phone support, only email support within limited hours per day. Now that’s an idea based on convenience…not for the customer, but for you. An overwhelming theme with your services. And I understand completely — you have a busy life! It’s not fair that a client call and interrupt anything you’re doing.

As always Webmaster, I appreciate what you do. A respected Senior Web Developer like myself cannot put food on the table without help from people like you. You’re a dying breed, Webmaster. Stay strong my friend — serious Web Developers like me need you out there.

Sincerely,

David Walsh
Senior Web Developer

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: An Open Letter to You, Webmaster II

7 Signs I Knew I Was Born To Be a Programmer

David Walsh — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:07:25 +0000

This will probably shock you but I’m a programmer. Not a designer, not a copywriter, just a simple programmer. I’ve done some self analysis and realized that becoming a programmer wasn’t a choice — it was destiny. The following is my logic for why I became a programmer.

1. I’m Allergic to the Sun

I’m not as hot as Kate Beckinsale but I’m just as allergic to the sun as she was in Underworld. The second I see the sun I sneeze. What’s odd is that I used to play outside endlessly as a child — it wasn’t until I became a programmer that I developed this strange allergy to the sun. Today my skin is very white — a monitor tan is the only tan I get these days.

2. I Get Nosebleeds Often

No true nerd gets their official credentials without proof of frequent nosebleeds. Unprovoked and unexplainable, my nosebleeds just appear out of thin air…literally. These pick up quite a bit during the winter. I’ve broken my nose three times but no way to confirm that being a contributing factor.

3. I Have No Immune System

Most of my “vacation days” (PTO) are used up by illnesses that range from migraine headaches to pneumonia to bronchitis. I have the sniffles 365 days a year. I’ll wake up with a sore throat in mid-June. My body has no desire to fight viruses. A perfect excuse to avoid manual labor and sit behind a monitor inside my condo.

4. I Have No “Real Life” Skills

You know how grown men are supposed to be able to change their oil, cook breakfast for their significant other, and do their own laundry? Yeah, not me. No joke — I tried making eggs a few months ago, messed something up, and my kitchen smelled funky for the rest of the day. I’m a complete train wreck when not located within three feet of a computer.

5. I Have No “Social” Skills; Computer > Human

I’m not what you’d consider a “people person.” I’d rather spend 20 minutes typing an email than 3 minutes on the phone. I simply don’t have that gene. When coworkers say hello to me at work I usually reply with “email me.” I’m charming via email, stone cold in person.

6. I Think I’m Much Smarter Than I Really Am

Like any good egotistical programmer, I feel I’m much smarter than I am. Yeah, I slang terms like “prototypal inheritance”, “event delegation”, and many other impressive programming terms, but can I make eggs? No. Doesn’t matter. Why? Because I can slang terms to people who aren’t computer savvy and help fix email problems. I think I belong in MENSA — most other things I belong in on a seat in the corner of the room with a coloring book and non-toxic crayons.

7. Fashion == null

I cannot stand “bros” that wear $200 jeans and $50 Hollister/Abercrombie/American Eagle T-Shirts. I see a Broseph walk down the sidewalk with white shades and a fro-hawk and choke on my own vomit…..yet I have no problem with wearing one of my 5 MooTools shirts to any event. Wedding? Yes…because MooTools has Class. So simple.

I’m a complete nerd for those scoring at home. The life of a programmer as a tough one…God only knows how I can get through each day.

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: 7 Signs I Knew I Was Born To Be a Programmer

Confessions of a Web Developer V

David Walsh — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:34:43 +0000