I'm a web and drupal developer, an aspiring programmer, and self described geek.

Diving Into CSS 3

Posted Thu, 03/15/2012 - 11:53 by dallas

I realize that I'm a bit behind the curve, but I just now started to get into CSS 3. I'm still early in the process but it seems like this time around the guys writing the specs actually paid attention to how designers and developers use the web. I mean it's 2012 and it seems we're finally getting tools to fit the web as it is - not how it was 15 years ago.

As I said, I'm still fairly new to the process but the new table and table-cell displays are maybe the best thing since sliced bread... and I love bread. We all know that you shouldn't layout sites using tags because that's just not semantic. (Think of the screen readers!) With CSS2, we've been stuck floating and clearing s around the page.

Want a main content area with a sidebar to the left in CSS3?

#container{ display: table; }
#container #main { display: table-cell; }
#container #sidebar { display: table-cell; }

Done. Obviously you need to specify the widths of your areas but with those 3 simple lines you now have a container element with two nicely positioned 'cells' inside that look great in all the big browsers. Amazingly simple and so effective. Now we can still use the HTML 5 semantic tags and still get the simplicity of a table layout - win, win, win.

Why I Like to Document

Posted Thu, 03/01/2012 - 02:17 by dallas

So lately my job has me working on a project with a heavy emphasis on maps. I'll forgo details but I'm dealing exclusively with MapQuest's API... and it is so incredibly frustrating.

The problem arises in the fact that I have to use the .NET SDK, which sadly has had it's support yanked. Understandably MapQuest is focusing their attention on their JavaScript and Flash APIs and moving away from the less web savvy languages of C++, Java, and C#.

As I mentioned, my application has to use the .NET SDK and documentation is incredibly sparse and terse. It's almost as if the writers of the documentation were trying their best to simply finish the project so they could move on to other areas. And truthfully I can relate to that feeling - as I'm sure almost any developer could. My issue lies in the fact that this isn't sparse documentation of a program or class that nobody else will ever see. No, these are APIs that lots of people will use.

If you don't want to document the programs you write for your own use, that's cool, more power to you. But I think if you're providing an API to developers, it's in your best interest to make that API complete - which, in my book, includes thorough documentation.

As an example, the documentation lists a whole collection of DisplayTypes. One such entry is "0054 DTR_ROAD5." What is a ROAD5 you might ask? Beats me, it's not expanded upon to give the developer a quick reference for what the DisplayTypes represent. Instead, you have to make a dummy DisplayType and toggle it on and off to see what it controls. That might not be a huge deal for one or two, but there are hundreds of DisplayTypes. A simple description of the DisplayType represents would have been extremely helpful.

So what am I getting at? Who really knows - maybe I just wanted to release some frustration. I like to document my code. I personally find that it provides me a chance to solidify and double check what I'm doing and make sure it makes sense in the context of the program. I guess I just wish MapQuest shared my affinity for commenting.

/rant
/walloftext

New Years Goals - Update 1

Posted Sun, 02/19/2012 - 20:48 by dallas

Well I just checked out my goal list from the beginning of the year and realized I've accomplished almost nothing so far. Way to go me!

Build an HTPC - I now have the funds, but I keep getting sidetracked trying to figure what exactly I want. Do I just want a quiet PC for the living room? Do I want a full household server and thinclients on all the TVs? It's a big cost investment so I'm trying not to take it lightly. There are just so many options...

Post my PC build - Just haven't gotten around to it.

Enjoy Lily - The only one I've truly accomplished.

Find a home - We just did the preapproval process this week and looked at a few houses this weekend. So we're making some progress there. But I keep thinking it would be awesome to build a house so I invariably end up reading about that process.

Examine my career - I suppose this would classified as in progress. I've seen some interesting jobs but nothing has truly jumped out at me yet.

Read more - I'm slowly working my way through 'Bad Samaritans.' It's a good read - albeit a bit dense - and I'm learning a lot about the economics of developing nations. But with it being so tedious, it can be tough to pick up and get going on.

Website redesign - Clearly no progress has been here... as you can plainly see. Unless this is your first time herem, in which case... voila new design.

Anything else? The last big project I undertook was updating my laptop. I had been running Ubuntu 9.10 on it forever. But it seemed to be getting buggier and buggier as time went on. So I decided to make a change. I decided on Linux Mint 12 with the new Gnome3 desktop. What a huge mistake that was. I found it to be flashy but unhelpful. I quickly left that mess for openSUSE 12.1 using the xfce desktop environment... and it rocks.

Degree!

Posted Thu, 02/02/2012 - 19:13 by dallas

Well I received my degree in the mail this afternoon; it was a nice surprise to come to. The actual ceremony is sometime in May but there is no way I'll be attending that. That's just not my style.

Winter is apparently not going to happen this year. We went from fall right into early spring apparently. I'm sorta bummed about that because I really love winter and snow. But oh well, I guess there's always next year.

OSX Roadblocks

Posted Thu, 01/19/2012 - 12:45 by dallas

I've been using OSX a bit at work lately. I really really want to like it but I'm having problems with it. I think a lot of it has to do with my environment. I'm using a bluetooth keyboard and a wireless trackpad/mouse combo thing and they're completely ruining my experience. Does Apple make a full size keyboard and a plain-jane two button mouse? I have larger hands and the mouse feels way too small and the I feel like the keyboard is just cramped. I wish I could have my Microsoft keyboard and laser mouse hooked up to that thing - I feel like I could actually enjoy the OS that way.

I guess I should add build a Hackintosh to my new year goals list. I'd really like to a have a machine that I could triple boot - Win7, OSX, and some flavor of Linux. Or I suppose I could just run Win7 and Linux virtualized on OSX. But I don't want the Apple hardware - I just don't find it as 'sexy' as most do.

Syndicate content