Posts about graphics and-interactive-applications

We’ve been busy building some Open Web Games at Bocoup. As we did so, we realized there was a dearth of resources for making performant, fun web games using the DOM. Most material aimed at game developers focuses on canvas rendering, and there aren’t many resources for web developers that show them how to use […]

Continue Reading

Introducing BoxArt: A Library to Help Build HTML Games

• Tagged in:
• boxart,
• games

To me, the JavaScript language is as beautiful and unexpectedly wondrous as a mini donkey. If I could propose a new cover for the book Beautiful JavaScript, I would choose this one: The reason I find JavaScript beautiful is that there’s something new to learn everyday. For example, recently I learned some surprising facts about […]

Continue Reading

Looking at JavaScript with “new” eyes: Digging into the specs to learn more about the new operator

• Tagged in:
• ecmascript,
• javascript,
• open source,
• programming language design,
• web standards

Sometimes I’m not satisfied with the way things are. I wish they could be a little bit different, just for a moment. I deal with this desire in my personal life by sighing and gazing through a rain-dotted window. When writing code, I take a more productive approach: I use seams. During application development, there […]

Continue Reading

Seams in JavaScript

• Tagged in:
• software development process,
• testing

Over the last ten years, the servers that power jQuery and its associated projects have evolved from a single shared webhost to a complex fleet of more than thirty virtual machines. Recently, I have been working with the jQuery Foundation to reel in this decade of organic growth by standardizing the configuration management of our […]

Continue Reading

Open Source Infrastructure: Deploying jQuery with Ansible

• Tagged in:
• ansible,
• deployment,
• infrastructure,
• jquery

Selenium is an indispensable tool for developing web applications. It allows developers to write test scripts that control real browsers and ensure their applications behave in the way that users expect. Tests like these make software development much more pleasant–developers can have much greater certainty that their application is functioning correctly even after large refactoring […]

Continue Reading

A Day at the Races: Avoiding Random Failures in Selenium UI Tests

• Tagged in:
• performance,
• responsive,
• testing

I’m honored to have been named lead maintainer of JSHint. Following in Anton‘s footsteps, I’m excited to carry on his vision for the project and see it forward. In addition to overseeing regular maintenance of the project, my primary goal will be to prepare JSHint for ES6. Stewarding this work will be an exciting challenge, […]

Continue Reading

JSHint At Bocoup

• Tagged in:
• open source,
• tools and workflow,
• web standards

For many developers, writing tests is a hassle that would be best put off till tomorrow. For one, nothing can compete with the direct impact of writing great application logic. No user ever shared feedback like, “The UI was really pleasant and the functional tests were well-organized and readable.” There’s not much I can say […]

Continue Reading

Improve Your Tests by Breaking the Rules

• Tagged in:
• performance,
• testing

Life on the cutting edge can be treacherous. At any moment, your web browser may dramatically update its user interface. Your e-reader might take your books away. Your favorite snack cake could disappear from store shelves. For many, the uncertainty of this lifestyle just isn’t worth it. Fortunately, when it comes to Node.js development, you […]

Continue Reading

Proactive Node.js Development with Travis CI

• Tagged in:
• deployment,
• performance

Imagine you are working in your shell, you could be in any directory anywhere, but you want to go to ~/Projects/MyProject. You’re probably used to typing something like this: cd ~/Proj[tab]/MyPro[tab] Wouldn’t it be nice if you could end up in the exact folder you want with just: cd MyProject The CDPATH environment variable Much like the […]

Continue Reading

Shell Hacking – CDPATH

• Tagged in:
• tools and workflow

HTML5 is ready for mobile Open Web games. Flash is absent or disappearing on mobile devices. Meanwhile, in the US and the UK, 20% of Internet users are mobile-only, and in some markets more than half of Internet users are mobile-only. It is widely held that the next two billion people coming online in the […]

Continue Reading

Building HTML5 Games with GSN Games

• Tagged in:
• client side,
• performance,
• tools and workflow,
• web applications