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JavaScript – Is it easy to learn? How do you use it?

A discussion of JavaScript – basic understanding took place recently and I wanted to share my take on trying to answer some of the main questions which were posed. JavaScript, like any programming language, is not easy to learn and depending upon one’s knowlege of a language the person’s perception of “easy to use” will be determined. For the purposes of this discussion we could center on the ease of use of predefined one-line functions such as getFullYear() which surprisingly returns the full four numeral year. It is important to note that this and other functions like this get their data from the client, so if it is 2006 and your computer’s calendar is set to 2007 then getFullYear() will return the incorrect year. Conversely, JavaScript is a fully functional programming language. A common misconception is that JavaScript, due to the virtue of being a scripting language, is easy. Easy may equate to difficult when taken in relative context to very difficult. Usability and maintainability rule design and JavaScript can provide both. During planning and design whenever any element of a site can be identified as an item which requires maintenance, using a tool such as JavaScript to automate that process should be a consideration. A very simple and common example is the need to update the copyright © date every January first. This may not seem like a big deal, but what if you have 10 sites each with 10 pages and each page’s copyright date has been hard coded. Well now you have 100 pages to maintain, I can think of better things to do with my time. Instead you can use the following function to return the current date from the client: And even better yet, instead of placing this script in each page, place the script in an external .js file and call the function using the src attribute of the <script> tag. That way whenever you may make any changes to the function those changes will naturally propagate to each calling occurrence. This is called code reuse and should be a paramount consideration to any programmer. Not only does this practice allow for greater maintainability but results in much more readable, organized, self-documenting, and maintainable code. Also by reusing code as in this example you will be able to go home on time instead of working late duplicating work.

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BK Systems Circuitry & Design FTW!

Posted by dougr | Posted in Devices | Posted on 23-09-2009 | 1,287 views

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bkSystems_logoMy company, Douglas Reynolds Consulting, provides RIA development services, business systems, and Executive Administration services to our clients.  We depend heavily on our systems in order to provide services to our clients.  In many cases we work with our clients via remoting which reduces costs and increases productivity.  When a computer goes down, it is of critical importance to us that we get the system back up and running as quickly as possible.  This last week our Executive Administrator’s primary notebook had an issue arise with the DC power input board which rendered it unable to charge, as a result it wasn’t able to run once the battery dissipated.  In many situations I would simply replace a defective board or other component in order to repair a machine.  In the case of notebook computers, this is something that we would normally send in the the manufacturer for repair.  However, working with the manufacturer can take weeks for turn-around and we cannot wait weeks.  Our options are really to replace the unit or to find a way to get it repaired quickly.  Enter Brian Mergen, down at BK Systems Circuitry & Design. I called up Brian and explained what we had going on.  Brian is an expert in computer electronics, circuitry, and design.  He said, “Bring it in, I am almost positive what the problem is”.  I had the notebook in on his desk about 30 minutes later, he had a quick look and said, “I’ll have it fixed tomorrow”.  The next day, early afternoon, he called and said I had options.  I made a decision, he said, “I’ll have it ready in two hours”.  Two hours later he calls and says its ready.  Our Executive Administrator had her machine back and was again working with clients on her notebook, instead of our desktop, in less than 24 hours.

If you ever have any electrical, circuitry, or electronics design needs, be sure to give Brian a call.

BK Systems Circuitry & Design
2854 SW 153rd Drive
Beaverton, OR 97006
503-520-1000

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