2012-07

Combining code editing with a command line

[2012-07-10] dev, hci, javascript
Update 2012-09-05: separated input and output.

Currently, you are forced to work with JavaScript code in either of two modes: You can either use a code editor and edit multiple lines or you can use an interactive command line and work with one line at a time (editing, evaluating). With jsrepl [GitHub project, live demo], I have prototyped a combination of both modes – no need to chose, any more.

Working with large integers in JavaScript

[2012-07-05] numbers, dev, javascript, jsint, jslang
In JavaScript, one has at most 53 bits for integers. This blog post explains how to work with large integers, by encoding them in strings.

amdefine: use AMD modules on Node.js

[2012-07-04] dev, nodejs, javascript, amdefine, jsmodules, clientjs, jslang
James Burke’s npm module amdefine lets you write AMD modules [1] that also work on Node.js. To do so, you need to perform the following steps:

Text message lengths

[2012-07-02] psychology, computers
Several text messaging technologies impose character limits on messages. This blog post describes those limits and their advantages.

2012-06

Mozilla’s next-generation web browser Servo is making progress

[2012-06-27] browser, computers, servo, mozilla
Servo is Mozilla’s next-generation web browser [1], with a focus on parallelism and security. It’s not much more than a technology demo and will remain so for a while, but it’s making progress nonetheless. Quoting Patrick Walton in a thread on Google Groups:

Asynchronous programming and continuation-passing style in JavaScript

[2012-06-22] async, dev, javascript, advancedjs, jslang
In this blog post, we give a name to JavaScript’s callback-based asynchronous programming style: continuation-passing style (CPS). We explain how CPS works and give tips for using it.

JavaScript: sparse arrays vs. dense arrays

[2012-06-13] underscorejs, dev, javascript, jslang, jsarrays
In general, arrays in JavaScript are sparse – they can have holes in them, because an array is simply a map from indices to values. This blog post explains how to create dense arrays, arrays without holes.

ECMAScript.next: for-of, iterators, generators

[2012-06-11] esnext, dev, javascript
[2015-02-26] New version of this blog post: “Iterables and iterators in ECMAScript 6

ECMAScript.next’s for-of loop will provide a new and quirk-free way of iterating over all kinds of data. This blog post explains how it works and how you can try out a prototype implementation in Firefox 13 and later.

A closer look at Underscore templates

[2012-06-07] underscorejs, dev, javascript, jslang
Underscore.js is a highly useful complement to JavaScript’s rather sparse standard library. In a pinch, Underscore gives you simple templating, too. This post explains how it works and gives tips.

Notes from the Fluent JavaScript conference

[2012-06-05] fluentconf, dev, javascript
Technical publisher O’Reilly organized their first JavaScript conference, called “Fluent”, May 29-31 in San Francisco. This blog post collects random impressions of mine from that conference. They should be interesting even if you haven’t attended Fluent (hint: links to videos).