Tagged “javascript”
We’ve ruined the Web. Here’s how we fix it. (This is HCD podcast)
During the COVID situation, people have an urgent need to access critical information online. But in 2020, the average webpage is rammed full of large JavaScript files, huge images etc, and as a result is slow to load. This problem is likely to be most keenly felt by those who don’t have the luxury of fast internet – potentially the same people who need access to that critical information the most.
Here’s a brilliant discussion between Gerry McGovern and Jeremy Keith on that problem, suggesting tactics to help fix things such as performance budgets, introducing tactics at the design stage to mimic slow connections and other access constraints, optimising for return visits, progressive enhancement and more.
I have to reluctanctly agree on this one. I’ve interviewed quite a few candidates for “front-end developer” (or similarly named) positions over recent years and the recurring pattern is that they are strong on JavaScript (though not necessarily the right time to use it) and weak on HTML, CSS and the “bigger picture”.
🧵 It's time for our industry to realize the title "frontend developer" is obsolete. The vast majority of these profiles are actually "JS engineers", and they're usually quite good at it, but they're not as good at all the other things contributing to great frontend experiences.
— Benjamin De Cock (@bdc) April 13, 2020
Multiplayer Crosswords (chriszetter.com)
I wanted there to be an easy way to complete crosswords together that didn’t need people to pass a phone back and forth or for a copy of the crossword to be made in a shared Google Spreadsheet.
How to get started with web development (Go Make Things)
Here’s Chris Ferdinandi with a list of resources to help those who are new to web development get started. I’m keeping this one handy so I can share it with any friends who’re thinking of getting into this game.
In the same vein as Jeremy Keith’s recent blog post, Hydration, which calls out some of the performance and user experience problems associated with current Server Side Rendering approaches, I think Jake Archibald is absolutely bang on the money here.
The server and client render should not be 1:1.
— Jake Archibald (@jaffathecake) February 20, 2020
Don't render buttons on the server that require JS to work.
Don't ship code to the client that simply repeats what the server has already done.
BBC GEL Inclusive Components Technical Guide
The BBC Global Experience Language (GEL) Technical Guides are a series of framework-agnostic, code-centric recommendations and examples for building GEL design patterns in websites. They illustrate how to create websites that comply with all BBC guidelines and industry best practice, giving special emphasis to accessibility.
You Don't Need
A nice list of tips and tools on how to use simpler browser standards and APIs to avoid the added weight of unnecessary JavaScript and libraries.
Hydration (Adactio: Journal)
The situation we have now is the worst of both worlds: server-side rendering followed by a tsunami of hydration. It has a whiff of progressive enhancement to it (because there’s a cosmetic separation of concerns) but it has none of the user benefits.
A new technique for making responsive, JavaScript-free charts (DEV Community)
I wanted to see if it was possible to create SVG charts that would work without JS. Well, it is. I've also created an experimental Svelte component library called Pancake to make these techniques easier to use.
Let’s Learn Eleventy! (with Zach Leatherman) - Learn With Jason (YouTube)
When should you add the defer attribute to the script element? (on Go Make Things)
For many years I’ve placed script elements just before the closing body tag rather than in the <head>. Since a standard <script> element is render-blocking, the theory is that by putting it at the end of the document – after the main content of the page has loaded – it’s no longer blocking anything, and there’s no need to wrap it in a DOMContentLoaded event listener.
It turns out that my time-honoured default is OK, but there is a better approach.
Async and Await
My notes and reminders for handling promises with async and await In Real Life.
Modest JS Works
Pascal Laliberté has written a short, free, web-based book which advocates a modest and layered approach to using JavaScript.
I make the case for The JS Gradient, a principle whereby your app can have multiple coexisting modern JS approaches, starting from the global sprinkles to spot view-models to, yes, an SPA if that’s really necessary. At each point in the gradient, you’ll see when it’s a good idea to go a step further toward heavier JavaScript, or not.
Loading and Templating JSON Responses in Stimulus.js (by John Beatty)
Just because Stimulus.js is designed to work primarily with existing HTML doesn’t mean it can’t use JSON APIs when the need arises.
Building an accessible show/hide disclosure component with vanilla JS (Go Make Things)
A disclosure component is the formal name for the pattern where you click a button to reveal or hide content. This includes things like a “show more/show less” interaction for some descriptive text below a YouTube video, or a hamburger menu that reveals and hides when you click it.
Progressively Enhanced JavaScript with Stimulus
I’m dipping my toes into Stimulus, the JavaScript micro-framework from Basecamp. Here are my initial thoughts.
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