From time to time, I run into people who are interested in breaking into programming. Last night at the company holiday party a guy (we’ll call him Sam) walked up and introduced himself, asking for advice on how to move … Read on...
Writing in a Dynamic Language? Naming Matters More.
Sure, well-named variables and functions are important in all programming languages. But when is a name good enough? And when is it especially critical? I just received an interesting comment about my new Clean Code course on Pluralsight. The … Read on...
Writing Code? Know Your Boundaries.
Today’s developers are cursed blessed with a massive list of libraries and technologies for solving problems. And some of the worst sins against code stem from simply selecting the wrong tool for the job. It’s recently become clear to me … Read on...
JavaScript Configuration Object Pattern: JSON Saves the Day
So you’re building a modern web app? That means you’re likely running a variety of client-side libraries and custom business logic in JavaScript. And one of the first hurdles you run into is “Hey, I need some data from the … Read on...
KnockoutJS: Maintain Input Focus While Tabbing and Rebinding
Single page applications pose a unique and interesting set of problems. Libraries that offer two-way binding like KnockoutJS and AngularJS make it trivial to completely redraw a screen with new data delivered from the server via AJAX calls. However, what … Read on...
Warn Users of Unsaved Changes with jQuery
In web apps it’s helpful to warn the user if they attempt to navigate away after making changes without hitting save. But the tricky part is, how do you track when they’ve made changes? This is actually pretty trivial to … Read on...
Debugging JavaScript in Chrome with frames
When debugging JavaScript on a page with frames, it’s easy to find yourself running commands in the console in the wrong frame. I’ve hit this wall many times and wondered why I can’t see the variables that are clearly defined … Read on...
JavaScript Breakpoints in Chrome
When doing front-end dev, I set breakpoints in Chrome all the time. Here’s the quickest way to set a JavaScript breakpoint in Chrome:
- F12 if dev tools aren’t already open.
- Ctrl+O and begin to type the name of the desired
I’ll keep my 4 year old laptop, thanks.
I enjoy shopping around for computer equipment and like Joel Spolsky, I’m a big believer in using the best tools money can buy. And yet, I’ve held on to my trusty Dell M6400 Precision Workstation for nearly 4 years. … Read on...
Highlights from Codepalousa 2013
This was my first time attending CodepaLOUsa, and I was not disappointed. The always entertaining Carl Franklin got things rolling with a nostalgic keynote on his history in development. The highlight was a hilarious story involving well chosen pictures that … Read on...