Confessions of a Web Developer XI
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:
- I really bollocked Facebook during their F8 event last month. Saying Zuckerburg was awkward. Saying they shouldn't show past Facebook designs because people would long for the good old days. Saying that Zuckerberg also stole the idea for MySpace too because of "Timeline's" huge banner image and cluttered interface. Saying that "Timeline" was rubbish. Those are judgments on Facebook's decision-making. In the end, I think Facebook's engineers are world class and should be recognized as such.
- Steve Jobs was an absolute legend. His innovations have shaped how we both code and access the web today. The iPhone and iPad became synonyms for the "mobile web" and iTunes is synonymous with "online music"; both are markets you'd never believe could be so heavily dominated by one entity. RIP Steve.
- I'm a bit underwhelmed by the new CSS selectors provided by the CSS4 spec...but I don't know what I'd add, besides variables, so I'm telling myself to STFU. Variables would be nice at some point.
- I've also been guilty of talking smack about Firefox over the past year. Mozilla's doing wonderful things with Firefox; text-overflow support, memory improvements, WebSocket upgrades...Firefox is improving exponentially with each release.
- How long will people use JavaScript frameworks that aren't modular? Haven't we all matured to the point where we realize that loading more than we need is ridiculous? How long can lump JS files last? /me looks at jQuery
- If someone would write a definitive "File Size vs. Number of Requests" essay, they would become an instant web legend. Something I've always struggled understanding.
- I love how the simplicity that AMD provides to us. define, require, and returning one object. Dojo has adopted it, MooTools 2 will use it; study up, it's the near future of JavaScript.
- My next redesign will include a made-for-mobile version. I apologize for neglecting the iPad and similar devices for so long; this next version will be optimized for mobile.
- The thought of Google looking to replace JavaScript with Dart is enough to make me want to cry. JavaScript is so immense in potential and flexibility that the thought of it being yesterday's news is almost unfathomable.
- I always check the version details when I upgrade an iPad or iPhone app. Not because I want to know the new features, but because I want to know when the app devs are screwing up. Nerd Alert!
- If I were an HTML tag, I'd probably be LEGEND. Maybe SUP on the weekends.
- My wife recently signed up for Twitter...and I've never been so terrified of getting in trouble for saying something in my life. If you ever see me with a black eye, check my Twitter timeline to see why...
- One of the unsung heroes of the MooTools team is Darren Waddell. His work with the impending website redesign and European hackathons has brought the project to a new level. Thank him when you get a chance.
- The quest for ultimate optimization is a never-ending. Sprites, async JS requests, compressed PNGs, YUI-compressed scripts, cache headers, all those Y-Slow tips; there's no limit to what we hope to achieve. When is enough enough?
- I'm hooked on Angry Birds again, and I have more stars than Hollywood. Deal with it.
As usual, don't sing it, bring it. Where am I wrong?
I couldn’t agree more with this:
The thought of Google looking to replace JavaScript with Dart is enough to make me want to cry. JavaScript is so immense in potential and flexibility that the thought of it being yesterday’s news is almost unfathomable.
And about the Facebook part. I agree with almost everything. And I had the fact that I’m on the process of removing most of my friends there. “Friend” will no longer be a loss term on my Facebook :P
I think you just missed one subject there :P The lost of Dennis Ritchie. =)
after that great article… =)
ps: we’ll are afraid of the day that our loved ones join twitter. :P
What do you mean by File Size vs. Number of Requests? Performance metrics on downloading one big file vs opening a few more connections to download only what you need?
Bingo.
With async=”true” it would be alot faster to load many individual script tags rather than 1 big one – though this is only available in HTML5.
http://friendlybit.com/js/lazy-loading-asyncronous-javascript/
It’s been some time, so let me share a comment.
First of all fakedarren is AWESOME, I loved his new MooTools.net design.
For those who don’t know; AMD = Asynchronous Module Definition.
I never liked Facebook, not only because of its stupid games, but mainly because it got popular via tv. At least in my country…
Personally I don’t find it any more useful than its alternatives.
Facebook employees are really talented. No doubt. So are the ones at google and microsoft. But, I criticize the same way them too.
Steve Jobs *invented* PCs first, Bill gates became richer by having better marketing skills.
Dozens of flash games had the same gameplay to angry birds FIRST, you get the point.
I read somewhere;
Those who can’t code JavaScript but can code Ruby, will use GWT.
Those who can’t code JavaScript but can code Java, will use Dart.
Those who CAN code JavaScript well, will use JavaScript :)
First, I don’t think Bill Gates has better marketing skills than Steve Jobs. Probably vice versa.
Second, I think you mean:
Those who can’t code JavaScript but can code Ruby, will use Dart.
Those who can’t code JavaScript but can code Java, will use GWT.
Those who CAN code JavaScript well, will use JavaScript :)
But from what I’ve read, Dart isn’t very much like Ruby anyway.
A few insights.. :)
1) Dart was driven by a faction inside of Google that wished to developer a language internally that would be used to build JavaScript-like applications by those without a thorough knowledge of the current syntax (basically, server-side/backend/Java developers). That initiative, whilst launched from inside Google, shouldn’t be representative of the hard work done by people like Alex Russell who is very much still pushing for open-standards, a better JavaScript for all and more of what we all want in ES.next. Dart isn’t going to be the future, so no worries :) Parts of Google will continue helping push JS whilst others will do otherwise.
2) jQuery core is a significantly complex codebase and we’ve been stuck with just how best to address modularity for a long time. John Resig has commented on this in the past and we don’t plan on having a jQuery builder any time soon. Instead, what you’ll probably see is a solution involving Google’s closure compiler tools where we’ll automatically strip out any parts of the library that your project doesn’t use in the future. This work is still very much in the experimental phases, but it may come one day.
3) AMD FTW. Glad to see both MooTools and jQuery embracing it.
Per number 2….all JS frameworks have a complex codebase…
“Google looking to replace JavaScript with Dart”
As we are seeing with the slow, painful, easily forecasted demise of Google Plus, just because Google says it’s going to do something, doesn’t mean they will succeed in doing it.