Web-based applications run smoother if instead of using the traditional form method, they use JavaScript to post data to the server and to update the user interface after posting data: It also makes it easier to keep POST and GET actions separated. SignalR makes it even slicker; it can even update multiple pages at the same time. Is it time to use JavaScript to post data rather than posting via the browser the traditional way?… Read more
Developers are now spending much more time writing and debugging JavaScript, CSS, HTML templates etc. Microsoft have responded by adding better tools for front-end development into their development environment, Visual Studio. In this article Jon Smith uses a sample application to demonstrate how he converted an existing ASP.NET MVC5 application to use these new tools… Read more
Web pages increasingly suffer from JavaScript-library bloat. Because it is difficult to avoid the awkward wait while these libraries load, there are some techniques for making the loading of these script files less evident to the page-load time. The introduction of HTTP/2 opens up further opportunities to defer script load or do it asynchronously in parallel. Dino explains.… Read more
Sometimes, the requirements for a web application include a list of users that are currently logged-in. It would seem, at first glance, to be pretty trivial, but because few of us explicitly log out of web applications, the reality can get complicated. Even the best solution is a trade-off. Dino explains the issues and alternatives.… Read more
A website often needs to update a page as the underlying data changes. You can, of course, just poll the server every few seconds on the browser via JavaScript, but to receive live updates from a site it is better to push data to the browser, using server-based SignalR. This uses web sockets to do this rather than browser-based polling where web sockets are supported on the browser. Dino explains how.… Read more
The easiest way to make a responsive web application perform well is to minimize requests and the amount of data that is downloaded. The most dramatic way of doing this, for mobile applications particularly, is to download just the data you need to use. There are additional ways of doing this, such as 'Mobile first', Prioritized content, Intelligent markup and Compression, but the most important task is to minimize the data-download requirements.… Read more
Sometimes, the sheer byzantine complexity of the typical JavaScript frameworks underlying a typical web application can give you pause for thought. If all you need is a simple way of creating a mobile-first application that involves creating simple markup templates, loading them into a DOM fragment and dynamically populating them with JSON data, then maybe a lean micro-framework like Mustache.JS would provide a better, leaner approach.… Read more
You can achieve a lot with HTML5 and CSS, but only if you employ JavaScript libraries as well. It used to be possible to restrict down to one or two libraries, but nowadays, the pressure is on to do more with a web page with such features as touch gestures, dynamic DOM updates or CSS switches. Is there such a thing as too much Javascript? Are we near the limits of what we can do with this technology?… Read more
JavaScript has come a long way from its humble origins as a simple interpreted object-oriented language for browser-side scripting of web pages. It's many inadequacies, poor debugging and testing, and its design weaknesses, have now been circumvented by frameworks and libraries. JavaScript is now ubiquitous, but is it now suitable for a central role in corporate applications?… Read more
Underscore.JS is a useful JavaScript library for anyone familiar with the LINQ syntax. It is not a direct LINQ port like Rx or linq.js, but provides a very useful "LINQ-like" experience for anyone familiar with functional programming. Is it similar enough to LINQ to make it easy to transfer your existing skills?… Read more
Almost certainly, any HTML-based application is going to need to create markup on the client-side, using JavaScript. The language isn't particularly geared for the task, but with JQuery and now JSrender, it is no longer something that the web programmer needs to dread… Read more
Anyone in IT should be aware of jQuery. This free, open-source JavaScript library has become amost essential to anyone creating a web-based application. Nick Harrison explains, in as sucession of small examples, why it helps his productivity so much, and takes the grudgery out of creating dynamic web pages.… Read more
jQuery is one of the most popular JavaScript frameworks. It shields the programmer from the idiosyncrasies in the way that each browser implements the language: it makes life easier by doing all the routine chores and takes the pain out of AJAX. It also introduces a 'Wow' factor to browser-based applications.… Read more
ASP.NET now has support for the jQuery JavaScript library. Although ASP.NET integrated AJAX technology by introducing the is the UpdatePanel server control, jQuery offers an alternative, and more versatile, way of doing it and a great deal more besides. Matteo shows how easy it is to get started with using jQuery.… Read more
Doug Crockford is the man behind JavaScript Object Notation (JSON). He is a well-known critic of XML and guides the development of Javascript on the ECMA Standards Committee, as well as being the senior JavaScript architect at Yahoo! He is also the author of the popular 'JavaScript: The Good Parts'. Richard Morris was dispatched to ask him which the good parts were.… Read more
If you are developing a browser-based application, or using Adobe AIR, then jQuery and Ext JS are prime choices for your framework. Of course you could code it all in raw Javascript and HTML but Daniel Penrod hasn't got the time or the inclination to type code all day. He wants results!… Read more
