Is mobile-first CSS always the best option? Patrick Clancey explores the pros and cons of the classic methodology, as well as when other solutions might work better.
Topic: Code
Front and back end development for the web, mainly using open web standards. Markup, style, scripting, and server-side techniques and technologies. Cross-browser HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Frameworks and preprocessors. Creating websites and applications. Optimization and performance. Hacks and workarounds.
Breaking Out of the Box
What can we do with just thirty pixels? With Progressive Web Apps blurring the lines between apps and websites, Patrick Brosset helps us think outside of the rectangular box. Learn how Windows Controls Overlay can free us from forty years of design constraints telling us how applications should look. Thirty pixels, it turns out, are full of exciting design opportunities.
Human-Readable JavaScript: A Tale of Two Experts
JavaScript gives us many ways to do things, but deciding which way can be tricky. Laurie Barth gives us a story of two experts who solve this problem in different ways, giving some insight into how to make these decisions for your team.
Now THAT’S What I Call Service Worker!
If you’re looking to achieve the single-page app level performance without the overhead (and boot time) of a huge JavaScript library or having to completely rewrite your website in a new technology, Jeremy Wagner shares a clever approach combining Service Worker and streamed web page partials you’re sure to love.
The Future of Web Software Is HTML-over-WebSockets
The future of web app development is taking shape, and it’s changing the way we think about server-side app architecture. In this article, Matt E. Patterson shows why a new WebSockets-driven approach is catching developers’ attention, and how it can mean faster, easier development that results in an experience just as rich as client-side SPAs.
Request with Intent: Caching Strategies in the Age of PWAs
Caching media files, especially images, seems like an obvious way to improve performance, but should we? To provide a more performant UX without abusing users’s network connections or hard drives, Aaron Gustafson puts a spin on classic best practices, experiments with media caching strategies, and shares smart Cache API tricks.
Responsible JavaScript: Part III
Convenience always comes at a price. On the web, developer convenience often means third-party JavaScript—and we pass the hefty cost on to our users. Jeremy Wagner shows us how to get and keep third-party scripts under control through clean-up sprints and eternal vigilance in Part III of Responsible JavaScript.
Responsible JavaScript: Part II
Web development is hard. We don’t always get it right on the first try. Fortunately, we don’t have to get everything perfect from the start. Jeremy Wagner provides some helpful ways to start recovering from our collective JavaScript hangover.
Responsible JavaScript: Part I
The web is drowning in a sea of JavaScript, awash with unnecessary bloat, inaccessible cruft, and unsustainable patterns. Jeremy Wagner plots a course to navigate the JavaScript Sea responsibly by building the right things the right way and using the web platform the way it was meant to be used.
Semantics to Screen Readers
As an extension to our From URL to Interactive series, designer and front-end developer Melanie Richards takes a deep dive into how our content is accessed by a wide array of screen readers, which are highly customizable to users. Understanding the nuances of accessibility APIs, thorough testing approaches, and the wealth of resources available, site creators can create the most widely accessible content for the most users possible.
