And now, I'd like to turn the question around and ask everyone on
this list what they'd like to see from the DSTF.
How much JavaScript do you know?
Quite a bit. I helped beta some of the "LiveScript" engine the
Netscape boys whipped up in 95. Sadly, I was stuck in a "be
compatible with Netscape 4" environment for far too long and now have
some severe DOM deficiencies.
What kind of things about DOM Scripting need clarifying?
There's a bunch of stuff out there along the lines of "use this
script to do X."
There's some stuff about "I've just made this standard way of doing
things that solves a bunch of problems."
There's also a bunch of stuff about "here's a mega-library that
solves all your monster DOM/AJAX/Web application problems."
There's very little about growing, as a programmer/problem solver,
from the using and hacking of found scripts, to architecting large
organizational solutions. For example, most Unobtrusive examples end
with this line to get things going:
window.onload = init;
For all the effort that goes into an Unobtrusive script to make it
play nice with the HTML and CSS, this one line essentially declares
"There shalt not be any Other Script before Me." Beginners try to
stitch two of these in the same page, and it fails and they think
they broke it. If beginners are going to become advanced, they need
to know more than code; they need to learn how to stitch scripts
together to make systems, and systems to make applications. It's that
mentality, that potential for hugeness in every minor script, that
needs more support in more tutorials.
I *don't* think this means we need another "here's the architecture I
use" presentation -- I would cringe at the notion of an official,
WaSP-authorized standard. Learning to think about architecture is
different than using someone's pre-developed one. We need to teach
the beginners how to think differently. Without that, DOM is just
another set of methods to memorize.
Do you want to see examples of "cool stuff" with a kind of "DOM
Scripting for dummies" style explanation or more sober articles
with a more geeky leaning?
There may be a place for a "For Dummies" approach for the topic, but
in my experience such approaches get the complete n00b going just far
enough that they realize what they need to learn and they move on.
Cool stuff is what gets the word out (e.g., techniques and articles
cited in this very list), but I think the level of the learner should
be assumed to be higher than that.
Please share your personal experiences: what's your skill level
with JavaScript compared to say, CSS or XHTML? What's your opinion
of JavaScript?
I run a team of coders who do all that stuff, and I'm their reference
for getting it all to play nicely. To me, the separate languages are
more than separating presentation, structural content, and behavior;
it's about giving my team the tools to do their jobs without stepping
on each other's toes. I see the three languages just starting to
learn the steps of a very cool dance.
Feel free to contact me off-list, if you wish to chat more.
--
Ben Curtis : webwright
bivia : a personal web studio
http://www.bivia.com
v: (818) 507-6613
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