akikoo.org » Webdev http://www.akikoo.org akikoo.org | the web home of Aki Karkkainen. Published from Brussels, Belgium. Sun, 28 Dec 2008 18:11:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 en hourly 1 JavaScript frameworks http://www.akikoo.org/log/2008/01/19/javascript-frameworks/ http://www.akikoo.org/log/2008/01/19/javascript-frameworks/#comments Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:22:31 +0000 Aki Karkkainen http://www.akikoo.org/log/2008/01/19/javascript-frameworks/ Times have changed. I used to avoid using JavaSript as I didn’t see the point. Why use JavaScript when many users disable it anyway? Searching for code snippets and tutorials on the web took a long time and often those scripts didn’t work properly — and I didn’t know how to fix them. But after reading a couple of good books, DOM Scripting (New Riders Press 2005) and Beginning JavaScript with DOM Scripting and AJAX (Apress 2006), and after understanding the concepts of graceful degradation, progressive enhancement and unobtrusive Javascript, I began to see the benefits of using JavaScript. However, I didn’t know where to start, or how to build or choose a good framework of functions that can be reused.

Over the past couple of years, a number of JavaScript frameworks have been developed. Here’s a list of libraries that I’ve found:

Now, I don’t know yet which one I’ll use the most. And I need to better understand how JavaScript works. Robert Nyman’s DOMAssistant seems like a good start. Some other good resources include Roger Johansson’s article Choosing a JavaScript framework, and Chris Heilmann’s (the author of Beginning JavaScript with DOM Scripting and AJAX (Apress 2006)) the seven rules of Unobtrusive JavaScript.

Here’s a quote I like:

If you simply add a class to the body of the document using DOM you can easily offer a chance for a designer to define both the static and dynamic version of the document.

–Chris Heilmann, 2007

]]> http://www.akikoo.org/log/2008/01/19/javascript-frameworks/feed/ New year, new job http://www.akikoo.org/log/2008/01/06/newyear/ http://www.akikoo.org/log/2008/01/06/newyear/#comments Sun, 06 Jan 2008 15:30:15 +0000 Aki Karkkainen http://www.akikoo.org/log/2008/01/06/newyear/ Happy New Year! To kick off 2008, I thought I’d write a few words about blogging (and social networking). I’ve got a new job too, but more on that later. First of all, I find it difficult to post here regularly. The problem is not that I don’t have anything to say, but rather that I don’t have time to do background research when preparing articles. It’s not easy for me to “just start writing”. Writing requires inspiration and practice. Writing takes time — especially when you’re not a native English speaker.

Simon Collison wrote an excellent piece, Two years on, here’s another rant about the state of blogging. A very refreshing read indeed. I might give Twitter or Tumblr a try, even if I can’t see myself using them extensively. But they might just be a solution to the time problem, while enhancing communication among colleagues and friends. I follow dozens of blogs every day (web design/development, news, upcoming concerts, tech stuff etc.) via RSS feeds on Google Reader. This keeps me updated, makes me think and gives me new ideas. But if I want to react, contribute, and develop those ideas further, I often just don’t have time or energy to do that (not on this website, that is). Nothing new here. Talking about information overload and time management. Backpack is a good tool, but I also need to go out more often.

To conclude this post, let me say that I’ve just started my new job as a Web Designer/Developer at a Belgian company. I’m happy to join them — a good start for 2008!

]]> http://www.akikoo.org/log/2008/01/06/newyear/feed/ Ubuntu Linux 7.10 “Gutsy Gibbon” released http://www.akikoo.org/log/2007/10/18/ubuntu-new/ http://www.akikoo.org/log/2007/10/18/ubuntu-new/#comments Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:16:49 +0000 Aki Karkkainen http://www.akikoo.org/log/2007/10/18/ubuntu-2/ Could 2008 be the year of the Linux desktop? With the latest release of Ubuntu Linux (7.10), I believe for me it will be the year when I finally drop Windows and continue using only Mac OSX and Linux. At home, that is. At work, it might be a different story.

As a former Gentoo Linux user and current Ubuntu enthusiast, I have to say that I’m quite thrilled with latest developments in desktop Linux. One thing is for sure: I won’t touch Windows Vista if I have a choice.

See a Wired review on Ubuntu, and go on, download and install Ubuntu — it’s very easy, and free. You probably won’t look back.

]]> http://www.akikoo.org/log/2007/10/18/ubuntu-new/feed/ Bye Bye Internet Explorer 6 or lower http://www.akikoo.org/log/2007/07/27/ie/ http://www.akikoo.org/log/2007/07/27/ie/#comments Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:44:52 +0000 Aki Karkkainen http://www.akikoo.org/log/2007/07/27/ie/ No more support on akikoo.org for dead browsers: Internet Explorer 5, 5.5, or 6. If you’re reading this with any of the above mentioned browsers, you’ll see unstyled content only (with just a few basic CSS rules applied).

I simply can’t be bothered anymore to hack for browsers that haven’t been in development for years. I’m just waiting for these browsers to disappear from circulation, hopefully as soon as possible.

On this site, CSS is hidden from Internet Explorer lower or equal to version 6 with valid conditional comments. A very useful technique indeed.

For browsing, I use Firefox. It’s the only one I need, and it has some very good extensions too (Firebug, Web Developer, ColorZilla to name a few). For testing, here’s a list of browsers I’ve been using — although in most cases, I only test in Firefox, Safari, Opera, and IE7, and then only occasionally with others, if necessary.

The only acceptable reason for not using browsers on the above list would be if IE6 is your company browser (in that case it’s time to revise that policy, is it not?).

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