The process of telling a computer how to perform a task, such as generating a web page, is what web developers commonly call “programming,” but it’s only a subset of programming: imperative programming. There’s another type: declarative programming. With it, you tell a computer what, not how. This subtle shift in approach to programming has broad effects on how you build software, especially how you build the future web. So, let’s take a moment to investigate declarative programming and the web you can build with it.
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To make the right choices for your project, you need to start with a general approach, or methodology. You probably already know of BEM, one of those methodologies developed by a big company, but Maxim Shirshin decided to try BEM on a smaller scale. He wanted the same benefits that Yandex gets from BEM: code sharing, a live style guide, scalability, faster development. He is now convinced that BEM applies to small projects as well. Maxim has written down his findings, in case you find them useful!
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Because the W3C’s mission from the outset has been to make the web accessible, accessibility features are built into its specifications. As responsible designers, we have the job of creating compelling web experiences without disrupting the inclusive features of a simpler design. We need to find a way to adopt new tools and techniques to keep the playing field level. It’s time to embrace change. This article is an excerpt of a chapter in the eBook that introduces many of the ideas and techniques presented.
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Stricter functional programming languages are typically used when a system’s performance and integrity are both critical — i.e. your program needs to do exactly what you expect every time and needs to operate in an environment where its tasks can be shared across hundreds or thousands of networked computers. These languages have a steep learning curve for most front-end web developers; however, many more approachable languages incorporate features of functional programming.
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In this article, Maksim Chemerisuk describes his approach with better-dom to solve the internationalization problem. Since the last article about this, “Writing a Better JavaScript Library for the DOM,” he has revisited the concept to solve the issues raised through feedback. The solution was originally intended to be a set of internationalization APIs for plugins, extensions, etc. It doesn’t rely heavily on the better-dom library, so it could be adapted to any existing JavaScript library.
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In this article Julian Shapiro will demonstrate that websites can benefit from the same level of interactive and performant motion design found on mobile apps. In the following examples, he’ll be using Velocity JS — a popular animation engine that drastically improves the speed of UI animation. In particular, Velocity.js’ UI pack, which allows you to quickly inject motion design into your pages.
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Z-index is an inherently tricky thing, and maintaining z-index order in a complex layout is notoriously difficult. With different stacking orders and contexts, keeping track of them as their numbers increase can be hard — and once they start to spread across CSS files, forget about it! Because z-index can make or break a UI element’s visibility and usability, keeping your website’s UI in working order can be a delicate balance.
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Gulp is one of quite a few build tools available in JavaScript, and other build tools not written in JavaScript are available, too, including Rake. Why should you choose it? Gulp is a build system that can improve how you develop websites by automating common tasks, such as compiling preprocessed CSS. In this article, Callum Macrae will see how you can use Gulp to change your development workflow, making it faster and more efficient.
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In this third part of the series, Joseph Zimmerman will be taking a gander at how Marionette helps make views better in Backbone. Marionette extends the base View class from Backbone to give us more built-in functionality, and to convert all of the common code down to configuration. Some things may be mentioned in this article that refer to the previous articles, and this is part of a series about Marionette, so if you wish to learn about Marionette, you should read the whole series.
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In this article, Paul Tero will cover the key concepts that underly the JQuery object. This is a beginners’ guide to JavaScript syntax and how it is used by jQuery, which is just a JavaScript library that has a special-looking function, $, and that encourages the use of shorthand objects, anonymous functions and method chaining. After reading this, you will be able yo look a complex piece of jQuery directly in the face with no doubt or uncertainty in your mind. You will know what it does.
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