misteroneill

Emulating a Resize Stop Event in Raw JavaScript or jQuery

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0500

All major browsers fire a "resize" event on the window object when the browser is resized. This can be extremely useful for managing complex layouts that might not be possible with pure CSS. The problem is that certain browsers fire multiple resize events while the user resizes the window. Generally, this is harmless or even desirable, but if you have to do expensive DOM manipulation on resize, then it becomes quite undesirable. Unfortunately, browsers do not implement a "resizestop" event - which would be handy. Thankfully, we can sort of emulate a "resizestop" event using JavaScript.

jQuery DOM Cache

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0500

I recently wrote a small script for caching results of jQuery calls, which I've titled jQuery DOM Cache. It works just like jQuery proper in that you pass it a selector and it returns a collection of matching DOM elements. The difference is that it stores the result of each selector you pass it for recall later.

Cr48 Chrome OS Notebook Review

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0500

I recently recieved a Chrome OS Cr48 notebook through Google’s Pilot Program. If you’re at all interested in web technology, you’re probably aware of this program. In case you aren’t, I’ll give you the skinny before discussing the good and bad of Google’s first foray into hardware for cloud-based computing

Why Responsive Web Design with CSS Media Queries Isn't a Panacea

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0500

While responsive web design with CSS media queries is rippling through the web design community, I question its practical use for business websites. Jason Grigsby has an excellent write-up of the technical reasons for skepticism, so I won't go into too much detail reiterating them.

Detecting IE Versions in JavaScript without User Agent Sniffing or Feature Detection

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Browser sniffing is generally frown upon, but there's a massive gorilla in the room: Internet Explorer. While needing JavaScript workarounds specifically for IE are far rarer than CSS, I still find myself needing to use different code for IE - when animating PNG-24s, for instance. Most of us (at least, those of us using jQuery) have grown accustomed to using jQuery.browser for this purpose - even if we know it's not the best practice.

Improved Internet Explorer Targeting through Body Classes

Fri, 07 May 2010 00:00:00 -0500

I've seen a couple variations of Paul Irish's solution to target styles to versions of Internet Explorer and found them all lacking in one critical aspect: the ability to target IEs less than or equal to a given version number.

How to Get Hired as a Front-End Web Developer

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Lately, I've been spending a good deal of time evaluating résumés, poring over code samples, and interviewing potential candidates for front-end web development jobs. There is a huge variety of skill, experience, and craftsmanship out there. Most of what gets to my inbox ends up being mediocre, some of it is awful, a small subset is good.

jsBASE JavaScript Library

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

I’ve been working on a little JavaScript library, which I’m calling jsBASE. It provides two independent pieces of functionality. First, it loads a queue of scripts asynchronously to prevent blocking. And second, it acts as a runner – executing functionality based on a manifest.

A Better Method for JavaScript Awareness

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Most front-end web developers are aware of the benefits of adding a “JavaScript-enabled” flag to the of an HTML document, which can be used to target CSS for browsers that specifically support JavaScript. But the implementations I’ve seen and used had some drawbacks.