Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Incredibly useful web tools

Mozilla extensions:

Web dev toolbar - enable & disable scripts, CSS, etc. Highlight elements, classes, etc.
ColorZilla - detect and identify hex colors
Firebug - identify elements & classes, view the node tree, debug scripts
YSlow - see page load times, and how to improve it


IE extension:
Dev toolbar - identify elements & classes, view the node tree


General tool:
Meazure - pixel tool, see the grid

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Web Directions North

I will be at Web Directions North at the end of the month: and it will be an awesome opportunity to swat up on the latest developments in the web world. I am particularly excited about the JavaScript workshop with the fabulous Mr Adams - and I can't wait to transcend CSS with the venerable Mr. Clarke.

I am extremely passionate about creating a solid script library for Ascentium: and evangelizing best practice in the industry, so this stuff really lights my fire.

Creating buildings became more complex when government agencies and legal bodies got involved: it is now mandatory to include wheelchair access, fire escapes, air circulation, sprinklers, etc. When institutions become available to the public, the public develop expectations. The web is becoming an increasingly important tool on the world stage for: brand image, PR, advertising, community building, retail, and on and on. People feel possession of what they read online: they feel that the web must enable them. They expect search engines to show them realistic listings of relevant content. They want to be able to resize text, view pages on mobile devices, quickly download video, be able to check out sites with screen readers, and so on. Professional web developers are therefore finding that our page structures and content have to take into account new factors as the web matures. Semantic HTML, SEO-aware AJAX, accessible markup, separating content from markup and behavior - these are all admirable ways to achieve many of the new challenges.

On a personal note, it will be interesting to see how fellow web developers see their role. As the web expands and develops, the roles required to produce quality sites also develop. The front end developer's role has increased exponentially in the last year or two. it now requires an in depth understanding of: HTML, XHTML, XML, CSS, JavaScript, SEO, accessibility, Microformats, meta tags, mime types, favicons, behaviors, expressions, hacks, design concepts, pngs, PhotoShop - and various server-side languages.

A few years ago, it was as if the front end was a low-entry point for developing pages: and if you wanted to get serious, you had to go into programming, and you probably would never put too much effort into the front end again after that. Now that more and more sites are regularly over a thousand pages and need to be maintained over many years, there is an increasing need for web devs who can maintain searchable and maintainable sites with light and modular pages.

It will also be interesting to see if there is any discussion about a future front end certification. I am sure that this idea is germinating somewhere: and I am sure that unobtrusive JavaScript that degrades gracefully will be a big part of it.

Exciting times: more later....

=)