Rob Gonda's Blog

dhtml syntax showdown

just found this really nice blog entry showing different code techniques or styles to achieve the same purpose using various dhtml tool. The idea is the usual alternate row styles, written with DOM, YUI, Dojo, Mochikit, mootools, and jquery. I am a big jquery fan, and this may not be enough to convert you, but it should give you an idea of how easy the syntax is.

btw, I love one of the comments showing how to add hovers too... it's a beautiful toolkit.

$("tr:nth-child(odd)").addClass("odd");

$("tr:nth-child(odd)").hover(function(){
$(this).addClass("odd_over");
},function(){
$(this).addClass("odd_out");
});

$("tr:nth-child(even)").hover(function(){
$(this).addClass("even_over");
},function(){
$(this).addClass("even_out");

});

Firefox 2.0 leaked thanks to digg

As I blogged the other day, Firefox was supposed to release the 2.0 version tomorrow, however thanks to digg thousands of users downloaded it today.

I installed it as well and nothing much changes; they added a few features previously provided by extensions, which by the way are called add-on now. A few extensions do not work, such as Fasterfox, LiveHttpHeaders, Tab Mix Plus, Roboform, just to name a few. Thus if you're a developer that depends on those, do not upgrade yet. Web Developer, Firebug, and a few dozens that I have installed work perfectly.

DOM Vs. innerHTML

There is quite a debate when using Ajax/DHTML on whether to use DOM nodes or innerHTML. I've been a follower of innerHTML, not only because it's easier, not only because you reuse the same view layer, but now also because it's indisputably faster.

When using an MVC architecture, it's easier to reuse partial UI's by rendering them as usual and injecting them into the page using innerHTML. That has been the philosophy of Rails, and mine when coding any Model-Glue / MachII project using Ajax.

Check out this benchmark and see for yourself...

Dojo 0.4 to be released Tuesday

Dion from Ajaxian says Dojo 0.4 will be released next Tuesday at the Ajax Experience... nice, Firefox 2.0 and Dojo 0.4. The final release candidate is already available here.

Among other features, 0.4 includes:

  • GFX Library
  • Internationalization infrastructure
  • dojo.debug.console: console logger, improved debugging with Firebug
  • dojo.html.metrics - scrollbar width measurement, current font size measurements, the ability to get how much of an HTML fragment will fit on a single line in a container, and to populate a container node with as much of an HTML fragment as will fit into it. Also included is a way of measuring the dimensions of a node if one was to populate it with a specific HTML fragment.
  • Widget Infrastructure: namespace support, subwidgets, refactoring of dir structure
  • Widgets: New widgets have been added and updated including: VML support, FilteringTable widget, Slider, Toaster, DropDownTimePicker, RadioGroup, Clock, ProgressBar, Datepicker, Editor, AccordionContainer, and many more.

Server Mechanic Flash Game

Server MechanicIf you're a sysadmin or have every been one, you've got to play this game! Server Mechanic is a flash game about a man and a stubborn server that just won't start. You can play a 1-Player version against time and competing to win free hosting packages, x-box 360's, and a 42' plasma TV, or a 2-Player version to compete in real time against other visitors.

Behind the scenes, the server mechanic is using a ColdFusion MX7 Server and Flash Communication Server 1.5 for the 2-Player game.

IE7 Official Extensions Site

If you downloaded IE7, you would notice similarities with Firefox... Tabbed browsing, anti-phishing security, and you can even install extensions. I don't expect them to be as successful as FF's, mainly because FF is open source. Nevertheless, there are many useful addons which could make IE a much nicer browser to use.

Firefox 2.0 coming your way on Tuesday

The world's second most used Web browser is set to unleash the final build of its new version on Tuesday. Firefox 2.0, from the not for profit open source Mozilla Foundation, will be available for download from the Firefox website at getfirefox.com.

The user interface has not changes much from Firefox 1.5. There have been some improvements with the tabs feature, such as enabling users to close and reopen individual tabs more easily and a history list of previous tabs that have been opened, all of which we already had with the Tab Mix Plus extension. Mozilla also improved the anti-phishing security feature of Firefox 2.0, which warns users in advance when they look like they might be visiting a malicious web page. IE7, released last week, also has a similar feature.

Ubuntu Update

I just fixed my resolution problem and got my 1440x900 wide screen working. The trick was to execute

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver.xorg

and go thru the entire process. After done, press ctrl-alt-backspace to reset terminal.
I also installed Flash 9 Beta and it's working perfectly! I'm really happy with this OS.

Vista RC2

I just finished installing Windows Vista RC2 on my VMWare. However, it's 1AM so I'll play with it tomorrow. During the install it blue-screened once, something about a USB port... anyways, it auto-rebooted and finished the installation. I played just for a few minutes with Office 2007 Beta 2 this afternoon, and the new UI looks pretty darn good.

Update 1: I got the same blue-screen again when shutting down. It may be related to VMWare, I can't tell. Also, Windows did not recognize my network card or sound cart. Windows XP and Ubuntu recognized everything w/o any problems.

Update 2: got the network card going after installing the vmware tools and switching to NAT mode instead of bridge. I doubt that this second part had anything to do with it, nevertheless I did both. After connecting to the internet I was able to run an update which fixed by sound card too. I got a couple more blue-screens in the process.

IE7 Released

If you have not been playing with an early release to test your sites, it's go time. IE 7 has been released and you can download it here. There are major changes in CSS rendering, added support for PNG's alpha layers, native XMLHttpRequest for your Ajax sites, tab browsing -- finally -- and more. IE7 will be distributes as a Windows Update, so propagation should be rather fast.

Update: more information @ ie7.com

More Entries

This blog is running version 5.9.003. Contact Blog Owner