jQuery performance
TODO: write a series of test cases that illustrate ways to write high-performance jQuery.
Projects in progress
I have many projects in progress...
1) "Anybody can program" book, have half of the outline for the first draft done
2) Stylometry web app, have some of the backend services done that calculate stylometry stats
a) Dictionary looker upper, reasonably complete for Merriam-Webster only
3) Blog application, just a few thoughts on paper and a few lines of code
4) Notepad, a note-keeping application, could pass for done
5) Merb Google RSS feed sample application, could pass for done
6) jQuery_merb, a javascript library bridging the gap between jQuery/javascript and merb. limited scope, but could pass for done
7) merb_solitary_part, a merb slice for hitting parts outside of "regular" requests. Needs some renaming/refactoring and some docs, but could pass for done
8 ) Kollaba, a site for finding collaborators to work on...anything. fair bit of progress on it, but probably dead.
9) merb-rails upload benchmark application, basically creating the same simple application in both versions. done enough to be used for benchmarks, at least (and yes, merb's faster).
Phew. I need to finish some stuff! But new ideas are so much more exciting...
Mini sample merb application
Made a little sample application: http://github.com/nanodeath/merb_example_google_rss
It's already got 3 followers, which is sorta cool. It's just a little thing that makes a Google search query and RSS-izes it. Uses Haml for the templating engine, which is officially awesome.
Merb Blog?
So this is a bit ambitious, but I want my next project to be a feather-like blog. Feather-like in that it's simple, uses Merb, and is a blog, but probably that's it. Also, extensible to the point of ridiculosity. We'll see how far that goes. I plan on having it be similar to Feather too in that it'll be open source and a learning tool, I hope.
introducing…jquery_merb (sort of)
I love jQuery. I love Merb. I thought, so why not work on both? I tried this previously from the merb side with the now gone merb_multi_js plugin, which I had made a substantial amount of progress on before I killed it. It was designed to mimic rails and generate handy JavaScript for you not using Prototype.js, but whatever web framework you wanted (I of course had jQuery, Prototype.js, and I think YUI). Alas, I realized that because of some of its design principles, it would never be performance-friendly.
Enter jquery_merb, or jquery.merb.js.
Startling Discovery
So I have made a startling discovery -- the plastic cap on the end of your shoelaces is called an aglet.
Game ideas?
Well, another day, another quest for game ideas. An online game would be fun to make, but my problem is always I think too damn big. My last idea was a Utopia clone, and I got so far as to create a scripting language that compiled into Ruby, but I just never got around to finishing it. What would be nice is a game that's fun in its simplicity -- simple to play, simple to program, just something you spend half an hour or an hour on a day, tops. There'd be a way to interact with other people easily; there'd be chat rooms and forums, and discernible "hot spots" where a lot of people were chatting or posting messages. But the most important thing is core gameplay: unique, rewarding, and fun. I'll get right on that...
Merb tutorial resumed
It's been a retarded week at work (65 hours in 6 days) but things should be lightening up a bit from here on and so I might actually get home at a reasonable hour. In any case, I'm working more on my catch-all merb guide tutorial thing and will be filling in the self-contained sections, but decided I should put off the sample application until I write it.
Granddaddy of all merb tutorials!
It's something I've started that's totally a work-in-progress, but as of right now it gets you to the "okay I have merb installed now what" point from no ruby no nothin'. I'll try to keep working on it in the coming days, but for now check it out and let me know what you think of what I do have! Note that some stuff is deliberately "first draft" and will get replaced later.
Here.