Development Archives
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ALA on Ruby on Rails
April 22, 2008
Issue No. 257 of A List Apart, for people who make websites, is about the why and how of Ruby on Rails:
- The “why” of Ruby on Rails comes down to productivity, says Michael Slater. Web applications that share three characteristics—they’re database-driven, they’re new, and they have needs not well met by a typical CMS—can be built much more quickly with Ruby on Rails than with PHP, .NET, or Java, once the investment required to learn Rails has been made. Does your web app fall within the RoR “sweet spot?”
- The “how” of Ruby on Rails: Hivelogic’s Dan Benjamin prepares non-Rails developers, designers, and other creative professionals for their first foray into Rails. Learn what Ruby on Rails is (and isn’t), and where it fits into the spectrum of web development and design. See through the myths surrounding this powerful young platform, and learn how to approach working with it.
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ALA 256: swell maps
April 8, 2008
In Issue No. 256 of A List Apart, for people who make websites, Wilson Miner shares techniques for incorporating data visualization into standards-based web navigation patterns, and Paul Smith shows how to replicate Google Maps’ functionality with open source software to produce high-quality mapping applications tailored to your design goals. Read and enjoy. (P.S. We’ve also started an A List Apart Facebook group.)
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ALA 255: web forms, findability
March 25, 2008
In Issue No. 255 of A List Apart, for people who make websites:
- Findability, Orphan of the Web Design Industry – Aarron Walter, author of Building Findable Websites: Web Standards, SEO, and Beyond (New Riders, 2008), provides an overview of this essential web discipline, explains how it is like SEO but different, and tells how every member of your team can contribute to your site’s content’s findability. (See Aarron speak about findability and web standards live and in person at An Event Apart New Orleans, April 24–25, at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside.)
- Sign Up Forms Must Die – Luke Wroblewski, Senior Principal of Product Ideation and Design at Yahoo! and author of Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks (Rosenfeld Media, 2008), calls for the abolition of sign-up forms where web services are concerned. Via “gradual engagement,” says Luke, we can get people using and caring about our web services instead of frustrating them with forms. (Get more Luke live and in person at An Event Apart Boston, June 23–24, 2008 at the Boston Marriott Copley Plaza.)
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Pixel8 Podcast
March 19, 2008
More about version targeting: Craig Shoemaker interviews Jeffrey Zeldman for Pixel8. The interview was conducted in February 2008, after Microsoft had announced version targeting in its IE8 browser, but before the company, bowing to public opinion, changed version targeting so that advanced standards would be supported by default.
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SmartyPig flies
March 11, 2008
Can online banking applications be social? Can social networking apps help your family save money? SmartyPig says yes to both questions. The creators of this pioneering 21st century social banking application know that when you’re bringing new services to the hectic web 2.0 market, everything depends on the initial user experience, and you have only one chance to get it right. SmartyPig chose Happy Cog to design their user experience.
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A List Apart 254: Design Double
March 4, 2008
In Issue No. 254 of A List Apart, for people who make websites, creative director Andy Rutledge explains why designers should shake off the mantle of “creativity” before it comes back to bite them, and rising supernova designer Naz Hamid explores the rewards of obsession.
In other A List Apart-related news, Microsoft has reversed the version targeting default in upcoming IE8, supporting advanced web standards by default. Details and linkage at zeldman.com.
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ALA 252: Introducing Offspring; Long Hallway II
February 5, 2008
In Issue No. 252 of A List Apart, for people who make websites: Alex Bischoff introduces Offspring, a JavaScript library bringing the power of advanced CSS selectors to browsers that can’t quite handle the real thing. And Jonathan Follett takes another trip down the the long hallway, looking at ways to collaborate, communicate, and manage conflict in virtual space.
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ALA 248: clarity, obscurity
November 6, 2007
In Issue No. 248 of A List Apart, for people who make websites: Hide e-mail addresses from spam bots, automatically and transparently. Plus: What can web writers learn from the greatest advertising copy of all time?