thoughts.on.code

Last night I finished Pragmatic Ajax: A Web 2.0 Primer. This is the first book I’ve read specifically focused on Ajax technologies, and it does a really good job. I particularly liked how they prove early on in the book (2nd chapter) that Google Maps was created by mere mortals, and not some Gods/Rocket Scientists/Alien species, by actually implementing it right there in the book!

I am not a very experienced Javascript developer, and so a great benefit (for me) was that code was all very clear and easy to read… they took things step by step and made sense of the situation before pushing on.

They at least touch on most of the big frameworks out there right now: Prototype, Dojo, Script.aculo.us, Rico, MochiKit (very breifly), Atlas, and DWR. As you can see with the last two frameworks they also talk about integration with a variety of server-side web development environments: PHP, Spring with DWR, ASP.Net with Atlas, and of course Ruby on Rails with Prototype and Script.aculo.us.

Some other things discussed:

• Review of JavaScript
• UI Usability / Effective Ajax
• Degradable Ajax
• Tools (debuggers, logging, etc)
• Future of Ajax

I particularly liked the usability and degradable Ajax sections… extremely sensible recommendations.

Overall this book is a great introduction to Ajax for the novice Javascript developer, and a good refresher/overview of Ajax for the more experienced Javascript developer. There are also some chapters that I would like to give to managers as an introduction to what this “Ajax thing” is.

I had a great time talking with everyone about Rails last night at Omaha’s Dynamic Language Users Group. A big “Thank You!” to everyone who showed up! We had a record ~25 people there.

Thanks to Matt Payne for anticipating the crowd, and getting us a sweet room at UNO. The room had built-in cameras which allowed us to videotaped the whole thing. I must say it was kindof strange to be mic’d and videotaped… a new experience for me. Than you to Bob the A/V guy at UNO for making that all happen!

I have not had a chance to look at the tape yet, but I am hoping that one of my lucky-bastard friends with a Mac might be able to do a little post-production work on it and then I will push the video out on the site… or to be more Web 2.0-is YouTube.

But meanwhile, here are the slides, available in the following formats: HTML, PDF, and OpenOffice (ODP).

The HTML and ODP formats have the notes, where the PDF is just the slides.

Also, thank you to Harish over at BusinessWorks/IdeoLogicLLC for the kind words! He has also posted a few links that should be of interest if you want to persue Rails further.

So, I noticed on Artima (via google’s feed reader) this morning that a new web-app langauge has hit 1.0: HaXe (link to post here).

So, I decided to take 15 minutes and look at it. That literally is all I’ve looked at it so ar, so bear that in mind. It looks interesting at first glance, but I think it will have a hard time up against Rails. And the reason for that is simple: from what I can see, there is no dynamic support for new methods/functions. Without that, I think it will be very hard to make a DSL as simply as Rails does. For instance, it does not appear to support the ability to reflect against your database to dynamically build your model, which I find to be one of the most powerful aspects of Rails.

In fact, it appears that they have borrowed from Java to do reflection, a poor choice in my mind. Java’s reflection api is very usefull, but pales in comparison to method_missing/mixins/etc in Ruby.

One of the interesting things about it is that it can compile down to flash, which could make it very handy as an absraction for that, though my hunch at this time is I would use Flex or OpenLaslo for that if I ever have the need.

But, since I failed to take Rails seriously the first time I saw it, and I want to learn from that lesson, I intend to take a closer look at HaXe sooner than later. If I find anything interesting I will be sure to write a post about it.

Update: There is a brief Ajaxian post on this as well: http://ajaxian.com/archives/haxe-web-language

I am going to have a busy summer. I have a number of speaking engagements over the next few months:

Omaha Dynamic Languages User Group
Date: June 6th
Presentation: Ruby on Rails

I will be giving an overview of Ruby on Rails to the Dynamic Language group. I hope to have time to learn RJS so that I can really focus on that technology.

Omaha Java User Group
Date: June 20th
Presentation: Java Performance Tools, Tips, and Tricks

Unless somebody else steps up and volunteers to present, I will be giving a preview of my No Fluff presentation in July.

Central Iowa Software Symposium
Presentation: Java Performance Tools, Tips, and Tricks

This is an extended presentation of what comes below. In addition to performance monitoring, I will be talking more about the hows and whys of performance.

OSCON 2006
Presentation: Open Source Performance Monitoring Tools and Tricks for Java

This is a survey of Open Source Performance Monitoring Tools for Java. It is only a 45 minute session, so it will go very fast. If you cannot make it to Portland (hey, I understand ), then take a look at my presentation for Bass & Associates… they will be similar.

Central Iowa JUG
Presentation: Integrating AJAX into the Enterprise using REST and ActiveMQ JMS

Right now they have me down for Performance Monitoring, but currently the plan is to talk about AJAX working in conjunction with ActiveMQ JMS and the REST protocol. I have a lot to do on this one still!

Wow. Every time I look at that list, I start freaking out about the amount of work ahead of me. But, I am really looking forward to the challenge. This should be a very exciting summer!

Tonight I was reminded of McCarthyism as I read yet another post by James McGovern, “Thought Leader“.   The inconsequential “facts” that “must” be proven, the distortion of other’s views, the belaboring of an issue, well past it’s expiration, the  fear of losing control.

We as a Ruby community have been hoodwinked into listening to this guy, and trying to explain to him what the problems are with his argument (or lack thereof).  We should have just ignored him.
We know that Ruby will make it into the larger Enterprise.  We know that there is a ground-swell and for once,  technology and innovation is being pushed by the developers, not the spec writers who work for the IT giants.  It will happen.
Will this happen immediately? No.  Soon? yeah, probably.

Will it be a complete domination? Not likely.  Java is just now becoming COBOL.  And, Ruby is not “backed” by the Big Dogs, nor will it see much in that regards.  But, with the right combination of killer architectural solution (DSL’s maybe?) and continued ground-swell, we could see that happen.
And this is the type of FUD we can expect.  Don’t forget the FUD about Java when it started it’s rise against C++ and VB.  Just back then we didn’t have an “early hater” to associate with it.