Ready for jQueryTO – Day 2

After a mind-bending Day #1 @jQueryTO – even #FirstWorldProblems like learning “the hard way” the pain of form versus function and that it might be about time to trade in my Nexus S for a Nexus 4 (thx Adam!), or even a Nexus 7 (thx Ian!) – I decided to compile my choices for Day #2:

jQueryTO: day #2/2

State of jQuery UI, with Scott González

Keynote

The Holy Grail: Client and Server, with Tim Branyen

An ambitious talk discussing the holy grail of accessible web application development. Discussing CommonJS, RequireJS, and Backbone complications and solutions to sharing. An example application will be discussed and structure explained. Even if you are not interested in sharing code with the server, techniques and structure presented will be useful for any application in any framework.

AngularJS just ain’t just another MVC framework… with Pearl Chen

You’ve probably heard of BackboneJS as a JavaScript MVC framework for building web apps but it’s worth exploring other options when you want to get more out of your framework. AngularJS is highly opinionated which makes it easier for beginners to grasp core MVC concepts, while experts will enjoy its integration with Yeoman. And anyone who wants to write less boilerplate code will enjoy its data binding abilities. If you’re like me, AngularJS just might turn into your favourite MVC framework.

The Dev Process—collaborating with designers, prototyping, & how to +1 your dev knowledge while at work, with Monika Piotrowicz

We’ve all been to conferences where we’re filled with ideas and inspiration, only to come back to work and be forced to put them all aside. Deadlines loom, designs change, and we still need some research time before we can confidently implement that "cool new thing" we saw. Using practical examples, this talk will introduce a process that supports on-the-job dev learning by alleviating these strains. This collaborative process brings developers into projects sooner, builds in research and prototyping time, and is centered around continuous communication with designers and clients. This talk will dispell the myth that process is a dirty word. Instead, it will demonstrate that a well-developed process can push technical boundaries, enhance working relationships, and increase the quality of your applications, all while maintaining dev sanity.

Offline Mobile Web App Architecture & Design, with Boaz Sender

In this talk I’ll step through mobile web application architecture with a focus on minimizing data transactions, and managing client-side state for offline-able apps. This is a framework agnostic talk where the focus is on application flow and design philosophy.

Scaling Backbone.js Applications With Marionette.js, with Derick Bailey

Nearly everyone understands how to build a simple JavaScript application these days. With the recent explosion of JavaScript MV* tools and frameworks, though, many of us find ourselves in over our heads, looking at patterns and practices that work well for small applications and pages but fail when scaling to anything substantial. In this session, Derick Bailey will give you an introduction to many of the patterns and practices that your JavaScript applications need to be scalable. You’ll learn about file and folder organization, the necessity of separating the various concerns of your application, patterns that aggregate and coordinate functionality from other parts of the system, and more. And all of this will be illustrated with Backbone, MarionetteJS and additional plugins that can give you an edge in creating scalable applications in JavaScript.

Fixing Broken Windows: 10 small things that will instantly improve your project, with Sam Breed

Informal social controls have a big impact on how what’s considered acceptable behavior. Building on the theory that a single broken window on an urban block can lead to the perception of lawlessness and actually be a contributor to criminal behavior, my talk will focus on how to spot and repair the "broken windows" in your JavaScript applications. Even seemingly-trivial anti-patterns like commented-out code, mixed spaces and tabs, or missing documentation can be “broken windows” that lead to further decay and software entropy in your large jQuery projects. I’ll cover 10 things to look for, from minor mis-steps, to organization and to common design patterns that will restore order in your applications.

Developing with Grunt, with Dan Heberden

Grunt is a task-based command line build tool for JavaScript projects. We’ll cover its impressive project initialization and scaffolding capabilities, automated task running, and how to extend and customize your grunt project to suit your needs. If you’ve ever wanted an easy way to concat and minify your JavaScript and CSS, run your tests, lint your code, and incorporate custom build functionality: this is the tool for you.

The 2013 Frontend Disapora, with Paul Irish

Keynote

See you tomorrow!