JavaScript

Create a React Web App in Visual Studio Code

There are a number of JavaScript frameworks that promise to make developing web apps for both browsers and mobile devices easier, faster, and with superior results. Rob Gravelle familiarizes you with the ReactJS library and Microsoft's Visual Studio Code IDE, which boasts React IntelliSense and code navigation out of the box!

Set Up Eclipse to Work with the Sencha Ext JS Web App Framework

The Sencha Ext JS Web App Framework helps you build data-intensive, cross-platform web apps for desktops, tablets, and smartphones. Rob Gravelle provides a brief overview and shows us how to configure Eclipse to work with it.

Bind Data to Your Web Forms with EmberJS Models

In the Working with Data Models and Routes in EmberJS article, we saw how to add Routes to our Sakila Video store app to link the pages of our app together. Then, in How to Link Between EmberJS App Pages, we created a navigation bar component to display site links at the top of every page. Now, it's time to bind a model to the rentals page in order to display available videos.

Getting Started with Vue.js

Vue is a progressive framework for building user interfaces. Rob Gravelle examines the different ways to use Vue in your projects.

Creating Beautiful Customized Alerts with SweetAlert2

Learn how to create beautiful and user-friendly alerts for your web applications.

Top Navigation Bar Widgets for 2018: Bootstrap and jQuery Mobile

In this series, Rob Gravelle presents some good components that you can use to make your Navbars look and behave optimally in any size viewport. Bootstrap and jQuery Mobile are the subjects of today's installment.

JavaScript Prototypal Inheritance in 2018

With somewhat lackluster browser support, it might be a tad premature to jump on the ES6 class syntax bandwagon. Instead, Rob Gravelle takes another look at Prototypal Inheritance, and explores its specific advantages and disadvantages.

Implementing the Blockchain in JavaScript

Learn how to implement a simple Blockchain in JavaScript using crypto.js.

Using Built-in JavaScript Code with JavaScript Objects

See how to use existing objects in JavaScript to reduce your coding time.

Duck Typing in JavaScript

In Duck Typing, an object's suitability is determined by the presence of certain methods and properties, rather than according to its type. Rob Gravelle traces the evolution of Duck Typing in JavaScript and explores some situations where we can apply Duck Typing for our own objectives.

Top JavaScript Libraries and Trends for 2018

Learn more about the tools that JavaScript developers use every day to make sites look professional, engage the audience and enhance the UX.

A Guide to Responsible Monkey Patching in JavaScript

Learn about the basics of Monkey Patching in JavaScript, such as updating an existing function with new functionality that builds on the existing implementation. Rob Gravelle also offers a few tips on when, and how, to go about it.

Creating an Expandable List of Items in HTML with JavaScript

See how to use standard JavaScript to hide and display items in a list.

Testing Asynchronous jQuery Event Code Using the Jasmine-jQuery Library

In this tutorial, Rob Gravelle picks up from where he left off in the last article and presents a few ways to test jQuery Ajax Success handler code triggered by an anonymous button click handler.

7 Ways to Start Learning JavaScript as a WordPress Developer

See why, if you are looking to become a successful WordPress developer, you must learn how to use JavaScript.

Fetching jQuery Autocomplete Matches via Ajax

Rob Gravelle shows us how to use the jQuery Autocomplete Widget's source event to perform a search of complex data via an Ajax request.

Cross-Browser JavaScript Tips

Take advantage of these tips to make sure that your JavaScript code can be executed in multiple browsers, ensuring that your application is cross-browser compliant.

Modify jQuery Autocomplete Widget Response Data

Rob Gravelle shows us how to customize the jQuery Autocomplete widget's menu content and appearance using the response event and _renderItem extension point.

How to Link Between EmberJS App Pages

EmberJS uses the {{link-to}} component for navigating from one route to another. The "Working with Data Models and Routes in EmberJS" tutorial described how to setup several routes. Today, we'll add a navigation bar to our app.

So You Want a Floating or Pop-up Window

See how to dynamically display a new window from your current HTML Web page using JavaScript.

Accessing Anonymous Functions for Testing Using the Jasmine-jQuery Library

The jasmine-jquery JavaScript testing library provides a set of custom jQuery matchers for DOM elements as well as a versatile fixture loader. Rob Gravelle explains how to use the set() function to provide pre-initialized test fixtures.

Loading External Fixtures with the Jasmine-jQuery Library

Rob Gravelle shows us how to use the jasmine-jquery library's set() function to provide a pre-initialized fixture.

Bind Event Handlers to a Dynamic Form

Learn how to bind event handlers to the form and child elements in order to to allow users to upload Excel spreadsheets to the server.

Mastering Drag and Drop with jQuery UI

In this article, Diogo Souza shows you some practical examples of the use of jQuery UI with explanation about the code created.

Working with Data Models and Routes in EmberJS

Rob Gravelle guides you through the steps to build a web app for a fictional video store using Ember's outstanding routing generator.

Testing HTML5 Web UIs with Jasmine-jQuery

Wojciech Zawistowski's jasmine-jquery add-on library for the Jasmine JavaScript testing framework provides a set of custom jQuery matchers for DOM elements as well as a versatile fixture loader. Rob Gravelle describes how to use it to overcome UI testing challenges such as anonymous event handlers and asynchronous calls.

Tame Unwieldy Lists with the jQuery Autocomplete Widget

Rob Gravelle shows you how to employ the jQuery UI Autocomplete widget to choose from a list of restaurants that is fetched from the server at runtime.

How to Search a JavaScript String Array Using a Binary Search

The binary search algorithm is just the thing for searching through a long list of sorted items. Rob Gravelle describes two binary search functions that are well suited to a variety of applications, including String searches.

Continuous TDD in JavaScript with Node.js and Gulp

Learn some good practices to better understand how to apply continuous TDD in your JavaScript project along with Node and Gulp frameworks.

The Advantages of Backwards Iteration as Demonstrated in JavaScript

There have been many of exchanges between JS developers on the efficacy of backwards looping versus the usual forward kind. The purpose of this tutorial is not to put every loop type to the test. Rather, Rob Gravelle describes what kind of scenario might logically benefit from backwards iteration and how to recognize such a situation should you come across one in the future.

Developing Web Apps with EmberJS

Several commercial and open source Web frameworks have emerged based on the MVC pattern. One of the more ubiquitous frameworks is called Ember. Rob Gravelle explains what distinguishes a framework from a library, as well as how to get up-and-running with Ember.

Create a Dynamic Form in WordPress

WordPress appeals both to the novice and expert developer, allowing him or her to create anything from simple static sites to large-scale eCommerce systems. Rob Gravelle describes how to construct a dynamic Import form in WordPress using jQuery.

AngularJS Component Frameworks: Introducing PrimeNG

Learn how to create a simple "Hello HTMLGoodies" example using AngularJS 2 and PrimeNG UI components.

Tips for Improving JavaScript Performance

Take advantage of the best practices and tips that can be adopted to improve JavaScript performance to help you build applications that are fast, responsive and can scale.

Making the Most of Components with Angular 2

Understand Angular's support for a component-based architecture and how to leverage it in your applications.

6 Things to Consider When Using jQuery with WordPress

Get some tips on how to get the most out of using jQuery and WordPress together to build a great site.

Getting Started with ReactJS

Take advantage of ReactJS, a declarative, efficient, and flexible JavaScript library for building composable user interfaces.

Create Custom CSS Selectors in jQuery

jQuery's fully extendable pseudo-class selectors are considered to be one of its best features. Rob Gravelle shows us how to assign functions to the expr[':'] object to create our own custom selectors.

Implementing an HTTP Web Server in Node.js

Take advantage of Node.js, an open source JavaScript environment, to build a minimalistic web server with ease.

Add Simple Search to Your Site with Quicksearch and Bootstrap

Explore how to use Quicksearch, a plugin developed on top of the jQuery library, that allows querying functionalities in lists, tables, among other HTML elements.

Get an Element's Applied Styles

Learn how to use Erhan Karakaya's MeJsX JavaScript Extension Functions library to retrieve an element's applied styles as defined in a variety of CSS rules.

Updating HTML Table Content Using JavaScript

Query's outstanding DOM manipulation functions greatly simplifies working with HTML tables. Rob Gravelle explains how to get, set, and update a cell's content on the fly.

Take Advantage of New Features in AngularJS 2

Take advantage of the updates in Angular 2 to build applications that are fast, responsive and can run seamlessly on Web and mobile browsers alike.

Best Practices for Combining JavaScript with HTML

Discover some best practices for combining JavaScript with HTML

How to Create a Simple Notes Application with Vue.js

Learn to develop a simple, yet fully functional, notes app, to showcase what Vue.js can do.

The Many Uses of the Bootstrap 3 Modal

Rob Gravelle presents more uses for Modals, specifically a timed alert and video player.

JavaScript Framework Fundamentals

Gain some insight into JavaScript frameworks and when to use them — or not.

Respond to Media Queries with the matchMedia API

The matchMedia API provides an easy way to react to CSS @media queries using the exact same CSS expressions, Rob Gravelle shows us how to use it to create responsive content.

Implementing the Singleton Design Pattern in JavaScript

Take advantage of the singleton design pattern to create and use one and only one instance of a class throughout the application's life-cycle

Gaming and the Web

Explore this overview of gaming and the web and take a look at best practices, hardware requirements, necessary Internet bandwidth, and more.

Display Relevant MomentJS Date Validation Messages

Learn how to use the Moment.js library's isValid() and parsingFlags() date validation methods to present contextualized validation information.

Customizing JsRender Output Using Helper and Converter Functions

Learn how to take advantage of two JsRender features for processing data values, namely converter and helper functions.

Customizing Bootstrap Modals

Explore how to customize Bootstrap Modals to position them, as well as change their appearance in a number of ways.

Learn JavaScript the OOP Way

Take advantage of OOP to write JavaScript code that is maintainable, extendable and reusable.

JavaScript Function Arguments ES6 Style!

In the ECMAScript 6 (ES6) spec, function arguments were enhanced with default values, rest parameters, and the spread operator. Rob Gravelle describes each of the new features and presents examples that illustrate their usage.

10 Best JavaScript Data Grid Libraries

Here are the top 10 JavaScript data grid libraries that will help you out support your customization endeavors. Let's learn more about them.

Date Validation Using Moment.js

Since the HTML5 date type is still not widely supported by browsers, many site owners choose to accept dates via text input--a decision that places extra burden on date validation. Learn how to use Moment.js's constructor and date validation methods to ensure that user-input dates are legal and valid.

JavaScript Frameworks that will Rule 2017

Without a doubt, 2017 is poised to be another year of exponential growth for JavaScript, along with its frameworks and libraries.

Working with Cropper.js Previews

The fengyuanchen Cropper.js library can provide a preview of the cropped image, thus providing real-time updates of the cropping container area. Learn how to modify a preview's size using a combination of CSS and JavaScript.

Display JSON Data Using the JsRender Template Engine

In the JavaScript Template Engines article, we learned how Template Engines help us separate HTML from JavaScript. In this tutorial, Rob Gravelle shows us how to insert a JSON array of names into our HTML document using only three lines of JS code.

Using JavaScript Task Runners

Prepping your front-end Web files for deployment using a JavaScript Task Runner is a good practice to follow. Rob Gravelle presents an overview of how Task Runners work and provides some examples of the most popular choices right now.

Intro to JavaScript Template Engines

Remember back in classic ASP how you were able to insert server data into the page using special <%= %> tags? JavaScript has gotten to the point now where it is capable of utilizing the same technique, using one of the many outstanding JavaScript templating libraries. Rob Gravelle explains how these libraries work and provides some code examples.

An Introduction to JavaScript Package Managers

Java developers are no strangers to build tools such as Maven, Gradle, and Ant. As HTML5 web apps gain traction, so too has developers' need for similar tools in the realm of web development. Rob Gravelle explores one category build tools called Package Managers.

Top JS Libraries

Once upon a time, there were a number of popular JavaScript libraries for accomplishing common JavaScript tasks in a browser-agnostic way. Nowadays, a lot of the newer libraries are targeting mobile app development. Rob Gravelle presents the top 10 JS libraries right now.

The 2017 Guide to Polyfills

The Internet landscape changes in so many ways and with such rapidity that it seldom remains static for any length of time. So too with the world of Polyfills. Rob Gravelle presents specialized Polyfills for CSS and ECMAScript 2015, as well as libraries that tailor Polyfills to the browser.

Change Slideshow Ordering using jQuery

Rob Gravelle updates the slideshow of the Create a Simple Automated Slideshow tutorial by adding option controls, button onclick handlers, as well as code to change the slide ordering.

Build a Birthday Countdown Calculator using Moment.js

In this follow-up to the Formatting JavaScript Date Intervals into Years, Months, Weeks, and Days article, Rob Gravelle describes how to construct an HTML5 form that provides detailed information about a person's age and birthdays based on their date of birth.

Formatting JavaScript Date Intervals into Years, Months, Weeks, and Days

Rob Gravelle describes how to express time intervals in terms of weeks, months, and years using the moment.js JavaScript library.

Code and Deploy a Simple Angular 2 Application in Eclipse

The time has come to code our first Angular 2 app, all be it the ubiquitous Hello World app, it will provide a familiarity with the parts and steps required to create a full blown Angular 2 application.

Developing Angular 2 Apps In Eclipse

Along with many new features, Angular 2 incorporates many changes that developers have been asking for. Rob Gravelle walks you through the steps to create a node.js-driven Angular 2 app in Eclipse.

Working with Large JSON Data Sets in Android

Working with large JSON data sets in Android can be challenging because it only allocates so much memory to your applications. Rob Gravelle shows us how to parse a JSON-formatted stream without loading the entire JSON structure into memory using the Gson library.

Getting to Know Angular 2

Angular 2 was released just months ago with updates every 2 weeks, in this story we take a look at all the best new features, their advantages and the innovations behind them.

What's New in Angular 2: Versioning, Features, and Components

The recent release of Angular 2 includes quite a few changes. In an effort to smooth the transition, Rob Gravelle covers the most important changes, starting with Components and Directives.

Asynchronous Programming in ECMAScript 6

Released in 2015, ECMAScript 6 standardizes the usage of promises. Rob Gravelle shows us how to use promises to have our functions return their results asynchronously.

Create a Simple Automated Slideshow

In this article Rob Gravelle shows us how to create a simple slideshow using a simple stand alone solution in jQuery.

Ten Ways to Use Angular JS

Check out the industries expert’s top picks for using Angular JS in your projects as we explore ten skilled and unique tips for your projects.

6 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Angular JS

As with many of my articles, instead of learning a process from scratch, I’ve decided to interview industry experts. That way you, as the reader, get to hear directly from these experts and learn their strategies. With that in mind I reached out for help and was contacted by John Donley, a Software Engineer at Charge, a San Francisco software company. Here’s what he had to say:

Creating Charts in React

The odds are good that you’ve already heard of React - one of the hottest JavaScript frameworks at the moment. This tutorial will demonstrate how to build awesome charts using the React charts plugin.

How to Make a Pie Chart in Angular

In this article we're going to show you how to create a pie chart using one of the most popular JavaScript frameworks right now - Angular.

Parsing Building and Street Fields from an Address using Regular Expressions

One of the most challenging tasks that you're likely to encounter is the importing a comma separated values (CSV) file into a database. Rob Gravelle demonstrates how to use Regular Expressions to capture the building/house number from a simple and fixed address format.

Class Member Encapsulation in JavaScript: Method Hiding

In a recent article we built on our Person class from the introduction article by adding a prototype interface, created a variable scope using a closure, as well as added constructor arguments and default values. Today we'll be moving on to method hiding, which comes with its own caveats and challenges.

Javascript Functors Explained

A JavaScript functor is a sort of interface that defines a behavior. In this article, excerpted from Functional Programming in JavaScript, I will explain just what this means.

Implement a Dynamic toString() using JavaBeans Introspection

In the Building a Better toString() Method tutorial, we utilized Java's powerful Reflection API to create a generic toString() that displayed an object's declared fields and their values. Rob Gravelle demonstrates another way to achieve the same result using the JavaBeans API.

Fine Tuning your RegEx Patterns

There is nothing more frustrating than looking at a Regular Expression and trying to figure out why the heck it won't work. Rob Gravelle shows how to use the regex101.com online tool to make writing RegExes painless and even fun!

Enhance Your Website’s Presentation with 15 Powerful jQuery Lightbox Plugins

Convert dull web pages to be striking and appealing. These 15 jQuery Lightbox plugins will help you to take your sites to new levels.

Provide a JSON Feed from your WordPress Site using the JSON API Plugin

There are a number of good plugins that allow you to very easily add the functionality to deliver your WordPress content as a JSON feed. Rob Gravelle shows you how to use the JSON API plugin right out of the box.

New ECMAScript 2015 Features: Object Literals to Destructuring Assignments

In this second installment of a two-part series on ECMAScript 2015 (ES6), Rob Gravelle talks about the new-and-improved object literals as well as destructuring assignments.

New ECMAScript 2015 Features: Arrows to Tail Calls

The General Assembly of Ecma International recently announced the approval of the ECMAScript 6 Language Specification. In part 1 of a two-part series, Rob Gravelle presents some of the exciting new additions to the JS language.

Mapping XML Feed Fields with jQuery

In the Parsing XML Feeds with jQuery article, Rob Gravelle introduced a script that loaded an Atom feed from the current location and extracted each entry's address fields. In today's follow-up, he maps the address fields into a new format and displays a side-by-side comparison of the original and transformed fields.

A Look at the Newly Approved ECMAScript 2015 Features

The General Assembly of ECMA International recently announced the approval of the ECMAScript 6 Language Specification, also known as ECMAScript 2015 and are considered to be a major improvement. In this two part series, Rob Gravelle takes a look at whats in store for us. 

Parsing XML Feeds with jQuery

The jQuery JavaScript library's DOM parsing, traversing, and manipulating abilities, which play a large role in its enduring popularity, can be applied to XML documents as well. Rob Gravelle uses jQuery to parse address fields from an Atom feed.

Calculate the Distance between Two Points in your Web Apps

As more and more Web apps are run on mobile devices, the more demand for geolocation capabilities increase. Rob Gravelle reveals the main obstacle to accurately calculating the distance between two locations and presents a practical solution.

Respond to DOM Changes with Mutation Observers

Earlier this year, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) introduced the DOM4 specification, which includes DOM Mutation Observers. These replace the long-standing DOM Mutation Events, which never really caught on. Rob Gravelle explains how to create and configure DOM Mutation Observers as well as interpret their results.

Form Element Conversion Made Easy with jQuery

In last month's Convert a List into a Select Dropdown using jQuery article, Rob Gravelle described how to create an in-place editor for an ordered or unordered list by converting it into a dropdown. In this follow-up, he modifies the conversion code to make it more efficient and provide more functionality.

Convert a List into a Select Dropdown using jQuery

The select-in-place list is similar to in-place text editing, but allows the user to select from an ordered or unordered list by converting it into a <select> element.

A Guide to JavaScript Fuzzy Search Libraries

Blame it on Google, but today's web surfers expect the search process to know what they mean even when they themselves aren't sure that they are looking for. That's where fuzzy searching comes in. Rob Gravelle reviews a few such libraries for JavaScript.

Using Handlebar Templates in Apache Cordova

HTML templates have been around for a long time and are a great way to reuse page elements without a lot of (or even any) coding. Rob Gravelle whows how to streamline the Apache Cordova app code produced in the Using Views in Apache Cordova article using the Handlebars.js template library.

Apache Cordova Persistence Options

The Apache Cordova Mobile Framework relies entirely on web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create cross-platform mobile apps. Rob Gravelle explains how Apache Cordova's use of client-side technologies opens up a wealth of storage possibilities.

Removing Elements from an Array in JavaScript

Set the Font for All Document Elements at Runtime

Rob Gravelle demonstrates how to set the font for all the elements in a web page from a listbox.