Monthly Archives: November 2011

Is JavaScript’s “Global” Scope Really Just A Closure?

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Derick Bailey

I hear a lot of talk about how it’s a performance penalty to use globally scoped variables in JavaScript (not to mention, dangerous / dumb). When a function looks for a variable, it checks the current scope, then it checks … Continue reading →

Posted in Javascript | 13 Comments

Backbone vs Knockout

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Derick Bailey

There’s an unfortunate dichotomy of “Backbone vs Knockout” floating around these days. It’s mostly in the .NET space where Knockout tends to get the most attention but I’ve heard others mention this, too. It’s an unfortunate argument, though. Both libraries are … Continue reading →

Posted in Backbone, Javascript, Knockout | 15 Comments

The Kindle Fire

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Derick Bailey

I pre-ordered my Kindle Fire and it showed up at my house the day after launch. I’ve been using it moderately for a little more than half a week now, and I have to say that I really like it. … Continue reading →

Posted in Product Reviews | 11 Comments

Is There An Idiomatic Command Pattern Implementation For JavaScript?

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Derick Bailey

I’ve been looking for a JavaScript Command Pattern implementation for a while now. If you google that term (or click that link) you’ll find a handful or more, that I simply don’t like. Granted, the implementations that I’ve found do … Continue reading →

Posted in Backbone, Design Patterns, Javascript, Principles and Patterns | 11 Comments

Introduction To Composite JavaScript Apps

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Derick Bailey

One of the projects I’m working on for a client makes heavy use of Backbone.js to run functionality in the browser. The back end system is built on ASP.NET MVC with an evolving CQRS based architecture. In order to keep … Continue reading →

Posted in Backbone, Composite Apps, Design Patterns, Javascript | 16 Comments

Jasmine-BDD: A Screencast On The Standalone Test Runner

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Derick Bailey

My 2nd screencast at WatchMeCode.net is now online, and is free! WatchMeCode Episode 2: The Jasmine Standalone Runner In this episode, I cover the basics of JavaScript testing with the Jasmine-BDD test framework, showing how to install and use the … Continue reading →

Posted in Jasmine, Javascript, Testing | 2 Comments

Backbone.js: Object Literals, Views Events, jQuery, and `el`

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Derick Bailey

I’ve seen this question in various forms on StackOverflow, more than a few times: Why aren’t my view event callbacks are being fired? or My view events won’t fire. What am I doing wrong? or My view’s `el` is empty? … Continue reading →

Posted in Backbone, Javascript, JQuery, JSON | 13 Comments

The Evolution Of A Site’s Design

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Derick Bailey

Site design is an evolutionary process, like anything else. As new and updated information is needed on the site, the design must change to correctly display it. New functionality is also added on a regular basis, and things must be … Continue reading →

Posted in Design | 8 Comments

Learning Haskel For Fun (and profit?)

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Derick Bailey

I found a little spare time recently, so I started learning Haskell via LearnYouAHaskell.com. I’m learning it specifically because it’s completely foreign to me. I’ve never done any functional programming and I wanted to bend my mind around and see … Continue reading →

Posted in C#, Haskell, Ruby | 8 Comments