Getting started with modular JavaScript
If you are developing rich internet application, and moving business logic to the client-side by truckloads, there is nothing better than using some form of module system, a loader that can take care of dependencies and asynchronous loading of your modules, and a system to package everything up for production use as a minified single JavaScript file. This is a very quick introduction to RequireJS and AMD modules which makes all of above come true.
JavaScript String Concatenation Speed Test
One performance recommendation I’ve seen was about concatenating really long strings. Unless you are using bits of JavaScript to prettify your pages, AJAX+DHTML web apps use tons of these long strings as templates, just as a server-side web framework would do. Unfortunately, JavaScript has no support for multiline strings, so we end up using multiple single-line strings, and concatenating them one way or the other. As these stings are very long, and abundant, it makes sense to make string concatenation as fast as possible.
JavaScript Array-Looping Speed Test
It’s been said over and over again that the standard method of looping through array items in JavaScript (the for loop) is not very efficient. I wanted to check this for myself so I ran three implementations of array loop through the firebug profiler. While testing only in FireFox 4 is certainly not anything resembling scientific, I believe the drastic differences between execution times is quite telling, and can be considered definitive.
Appstats and Bottle on GAE
Google app engine apps are fairly easy to profile, thanks to the Appstats library. I’ll show you here how to configure the Appstats for use with your bottle app here.
Searching within Multiple Files in Vim
So, Vim is one of the most advanced programmers’ editors around. One of the features I was missing for a long time was the ability to list all TODO and FIXME lines in my code. Well, turns out you can do this pretty easily even without a special plugin.
Modeling Citröen 2CV in Blender (Intro)
When I was a kid, Dyanes and 2CVs were all over the place, along with cardboard Trabants, Sharks (Citröen DS), and, of course, Yugo Korals, that Yugoslavia has produced after all. But then the country became poor, and it was ages before most people could afford a contemporary vehicle. The classics like 2CV remain in my memory as the vehicles, still. As my very first car modelling exercise in Blender, I chose Citröen 2CV.
image credit: Wikimedia Commons, uploaded by Pinkdylan, CC-BY-3.0
Zlatibor Infographics
Some of you might have caught it, but I was on vacation for past 2 weeks, and spent some time on Zlatibor. The thing I was most impressed with is the clean mountain air. So, after 2 weeks, I’ve almost forgotten how to operate the mouse and pen, as well as type on keyboards. I thought I’d introduce you to Zlatibor, and also get back into shape doing my thing.
