PIcking Your Javascript Mobile Framework: Part 6 - Elimination Round

Since the next few steps are going to be pretty expensive time-wise (on my part), it’s time to remove some of the options from the table. That should speed up the process, and I don’t think I left any real candidates out. First, we are going to eliminate those contenders that have a much faster cousin. That means all the combinations with RequireJS will be kept, while their Require-less brethren are kicked out. Continue reading

PIcking Your Javascript Mobile Framework: Part 5 - Performance

Well, here it is: the article about performance. I won’t leave you guessing: here is the chart with the results, and all the surprises it entails: Cautionary tale: given the number of frameworks and the boredom of hitting refresh, I only did ten refreshes per framework. Given the spread of the results (not shown here) that could catapult any framework a few rankings up or down, depending on where it goes. Continue reading

PIcking Your Javascript Mobile Framework: Part 4 - Coding

One of the differences between mobile development for sites and for browserified apps is that you don’t have to download the supporting files every time you start. That’s because they are typically packaged with the app and are right there with it on the device. That’s a huge difference with respect to looking up mobile sites, because there every byte you can squeeze out is a byte you don’t have to download. Continue reading

PIcking Your Javascript Mobile Framework: Part 3 - Minimum Functionality

If you are joining us now, this is a multi-part shootout of mobile Javascript frameworks. In the last instalment, we got a series of candidates, 77 long. In this instalment, we will look at functionality. The Todo app pushed by the TodoMVC team is very simple, but pretty complete. In it you: Create new todo items by entering them into a box Display all available todo items Alternatively, display only the active ones, or the completed ones Mark a todo item as completed by checking a box to its left Delete a todo item Delete all completed todo items Edit a todo item Bindings and behaviors were refined further: Continue reading

PIcking Your Javascript Mobile Framework: Part 2 - The Field

Right on the heels of the first instalment, here the second, where we will consider the options we have in mobile frameworks. First of all,** the number of frameworks out there is simply staggering**. There are literally hundreds of them, from industry behemoths like jQueryMobile to one-man projects already abandoned by the creator. Variety is the spice of life, but too many options make for big headache. Unfortunately, the web has zeroed in on the predicament of mobile developers and offers even more click-bait articles about the “Best Mobile Frameworks 2014” than you can possibly read. Continue reading

Picking Your Javascript Mobile Framework: Part 1 - Preliminaries

Mobile development is costly because it targets two completely different operating systems, each with their own idea of how to solve problems, down to the language used. For a small development shop, the only economically viable solution is to create a mobile-optimized web site that breathes Javascript on the front end. But for that, you need a good Javascript framework that understands mobile. Continue reading

Setting Up Kubuntu on a Lenovo Y50 - Data Immortality Edition

I am the lucky owner of a brand new Lenovo Y50. It’s a screaming fast machine, with a gorgeous screen (despite what naysayers complain about – mostly the yellows and the refresh rate). It’s meant for gamers, but a developer like me can like it, too. It’s just beautiful, and relatively lightweight, and did I mention it’s screaming fast? But the big question was: How Do I Set It Up Most Efficiently? Continue reading

Obvious

Nothing is as shockingly disruptive as the perfectly obvious, when carefully examined.

The Highlight of My Academic Career

It was the day of the Lord 12 February 1989, such as they count in the Old World. I was in the Old World that day, which I know precisely, because I found a trace of it in my keepsake box. Two days before Valentine’s Day of that year which brought about the Fall of the Iron Curtain, I was sitting in a giant lecture hall at the Rheinish Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen (short, RWTH) for the midterms in Theoretical Quantum Mechanics. Continue reading

Ski Resorts (and Snowboard, too!)

In honor of the opening of the ski resorts, here a list of places where you can go skiing and snowboarding, from A to Z Continue reading