Javascript
Google Indexing Javascript / AJAX?
Saw a post this morning, Google Bot now crawls arbitrary Javascript sites.
Seems like not only is Google indexing javascript files, but executing them as if they were an actual user clicking (thus firing off related javascript calls properly).
SOPA Protest Today
It seems like quite a number of sites have joined in the SOPA protest.
Some interesting one’s that I’ve seen have been:
- Google
Given their high profile, I was happy to see the logo was blacked out today in protest of SOPA. - Ars Technica
I like the way they blended a protest, with staying functional. Personally I’d prefer to show the site “down” as in “black”, but they were creative with an inverse color scheme. - Wired.com
This is one of my favorites. It looks much more like “censorship” than any other just black site. SOPA is about both censorship, and the shutting down of innocent sites.
If you want to join in the protest against SOPA and PROTECT-IP (remember, they are BOTH problems, not just SOPA) you can check out instructions (it’s very easy):
- SOPA Blackout JS – My quick writeup on how to deploy the SOPA Blackout javascript utility
- SOPA PHP snippet – pop this in the header of your includes, and you can participate too
SOPA Blackout JS
On January 18th, this site, among many others will “Blackout” in protest of SOPA. The date is chosen, because that is the day that some technology leaders are appearing at a congressional hearing. We hope they can convey the idiocy of the bill.
To join the protest, just put the following line of code on your site, and it will present a blackout (if the user clicks anywhere … they can get through it) that has links to relevent information (for more information visit the SOPA Blackout JS Utility site):
<script type=”text/javascript” src=”//js.sopablackout.org/sopablackout.js”></script>
If the bill is passed, many sites on the net may have to shut down. The blackout is reminding people the site they are visiting may not exist if SOPA is passed.
If you want to read about what is wrong with the bill, I’ve posted some complaints in my article Boston.com Supports SOPA, a rant on SOPA.
John Resig’s thoughts on Javascript as a First Language
John Resig posted on his site today, Javascript as a First Language.
His thoughts on why Javascript is a good fundamental programming language are interesting. This is in reference to using it at Khan Academy to introduce computer programming. For those who don’t know, Khan Academy is an amazing tool (Bill Gates is a fan of Khan Academy’s approach) for educating students. There are many examples of students learning at significantly increased rates.
Watch the video John Resig (of jQuery fame) posted, and my notes and thoughts are below.
I had a traditional Computer Science background. My first computer language was Basic on the Apple IIGS (thanks Apple for including Basic on your computers). I learned HTML on my own very early on (back when LYNX was the typical browser). It is weird to think of Javascript as a first language.
Javascript is an excellent, although controversial, choice to teach introductory computer programming in.
HTTP Archive: Average Webpage now 965 KB (up 30%) in 2011
ExtremeTech published an article, The web in 2011: HTML5 dominates Flash, trouble for data capped mobile surfers.
From the article:
According to new research from HTTP Archive, which regularly scans the internet’s most popular destinations, the average size of a single web page is now 965 kilobytes (KB), up more than 30% from last year’s average of 702KB.
Wow. That is huge growth. I still complain to web designers who want to include a 650KB photo.
50% of Websites use a JavaScript Library
W3Techs published an update to their JS library monthly usage trend, and says that 50% of all websites now use a JavaScript library.
jQuery is the top (by a considerable margin) at 41.7% of all websites. Wow!
Javascript Console Introduction Video
Saw this video and wanted to pass it along. This guy is great at going through some of the fundamental tools we have at our hands as web developers in the Javascript console, that many of us never touch:
Javascript, Dash, Google and our future as Web Developers
Dart, is an alternative language to Javascript being developed by Google.
Web developers live in an ever changing world of languages, browsers, development kits, and platforms. The recent introduction, and popularity, of “App” development has introduced a serious competitor to the open web. Our world as web developers is about to change.
Presumably in October (at GOTO) Google will be unveiling their new Dart language.
What about my beloved Javascript?
Google has stated that they will not be abandoning Javascript, but pursuing Dart as a “high reward / high risk” way of fixing the web. While working on Dart, Google will continue their efforts at improving the Javascript platform (through small / marginal improvements).
XMLHttpRequest: Learn why Asynchronous is Best
Ran across an article on MSDN (I know, right?) about the problems with synchronous XMLHttpRequests, and how it actually causes 8.4% of all hangs in IE9.
Synchronous is easier to work with, as it flows just like a user would expect. Asynchronous is slightly tougher to use, as it requires handling the response out of sync with the rest of the page’s code.
You can find some helpful information about the problem, along with some examples, and fixes at Why You Should Use XMLHttpRequest Asynchronously.
An excerpt from the article:
8.4% of all hangs in IE9 in the past month are caused by XMLHttpRequest objects blocking the UI thread with a synchronous request. That’s a huge number! With some manageable code changes, these hangs can be avoided, and developers can give their users a better experience across their websites. We’ll get into what’s happening here, what you can do about it, and we’ll give a little demonstration to see firsthand what can happen when a synchronous request hangs the browser.
Week in Web: jQuery Menus, Flowplayer update, Stylesheet removal, drop shadows, Gury, Sliders, etc
I’m going to start publishing, every Friday, a list of some useful / interesting links I’ve visited throughout the course of the week.
Usually this will involve whatever I am working on at the moment. If you like these links, you can follow me on Twitter to get them as I find them (as opposed to waiting for Friday).
This week I’ve been working a lot with jQuery (nothing new), Flowplayer, and CSS. An average week for a web developer.
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