Windows 8 Web App Start Screen Tiles

Friday, March 1st, 2013

Having had to certify a Web Application for use on the HTC Windows Phone 8X, as well as the Microsoft Surface Tablet, I was interested in providing a Start Screen Tile similar to that of the application’s current iOS Web Clip Icon. Not the least, the new Tile Based UI in Windows 8 presents significant UX improvements over that which… Continue Reading

Test First Workflow – A Short Story

Saturday, February 2nd, 2013

As a depiction of the typical approach taken when solving a problem with Test First practices in mind, below is a brief excerpt from a recent conversation with a colleague who inquired as to how one generally goes about solving a problem using Test First methodologies. My explanation was rather simple, and read somewhat like a short story, though I… Continue Reading

Simplifying Designs with Parameter Objects

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013

Recently, while reading the HTML5 Doctor interview with Ian Hickson, when asked what some of his regrets have been over the years, the one he mentions, rather comically so as being his “favorite mistake”, also happened to be the one which stood out to me most; that is, his disappointment with pushState; specifically, the fact that of the three arguments… Continue Reading

Basic Dependency Injection with RequireJS

Saturday, December 15th, 2012

Recently, I was having a conversation about the basic concepts of IoC/DI, and, specifically, how they pertain to modern (single page) JavaScript Web Applications. This discussion was quite interesting, and so I felt inclined to share some thoughts on the subject with a wider audience. Dependency Injection in JavaScript Being a dynamic language, when designing JavaScript based architectures, in comparison… Continue Reading

Quick Tip: Chrome Developer Tools Shortcut Keys

Wednesday, November 21st, 2012

Sometimes it is the more subtle, less obvious features provided by tools which prove to be surprisingly useful. Interestingly, while such features can save developers considerable time and effort, they are often much less apparent, and thus, occasionally overlooked when compared to their main counterparts. A noteworthy example of some very simple, yet extremely useful features can be found in… Continue Reading

HTML5 Document Outliner

Sunday, October 21st, 2012

Recently, while preparing a training session on HTML5 Semantic and Structural Elements, I was rather intent on conveying the importance of an application’s overall markup and structure, while also expressing the importance of not being overly concerned with the absolute technical “correctness” of each and every element used. With this in mind, providing a general overview of HTML5 sectioning content,… Continue Reading