BorkWeb » html

Firebug 0.4 Released. Can Web Development Be Any Sexier?

Matt — Wed, 24 May 2006 11:53:07 +0000

One of my must have extensions for firefox has a new version out! Firebug, if you don’t already know, is an Ajax/layout/javascript troubleshooter and is extremely well developed. In version 0.4, Firebug steps beyond the bounds of being a troubleshooter and can now be considered a full fledged debugger. Its new features include:

JavaScript Debugger
Stack Traces with JavaScript Errors
Debug JavaScript Errors
Logging levels and assertions
printf-like String formatting

For more info, check out the release notes!

(note: I found out about this on Ajaxian)

Node Manipulation in the DOM

Matt — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 20:32:53 +0000

DOM

I’ve been screwing around with DOM Manipulation for a few years now, doing stuff sporadically here and there. With my development of MasterWish and my recent interest in Script.aculo.us, I often find myself forgetting the various objects, functions and attributes relating to nodes. Hence the reason for this post. I want a quick and easy way to find the information…So, here’s a quick run-down of node structure:

Assuming we have the following simple structure:

        Bork!




        OMG Lazerz Pew pew!1!!!1!






            I like butter

We know the following (I completely understand the relationships between nodes…but I’m filling this out for completeness):

Node “outer”: is the parent of nodes inner_1, inner_2, and inner_3
Nodes inner_1, inner_2, and inner_3: are the child nodes of outer
Node inner_1: is the first child node of outer
Node inner_3: is the last child node of outer
Node inner_1: is the previous sibling node of inner_2
Node inner_3: is the next sibling node of inner_2
Node super_inner: is not a child node of outer, but is a child node of inner_3

Here are the node related functions available:

property	description
nodeName	name of the node
nodeValue	value of node (only applicable to text nodes)
nodeType	type of node – see below
parentNode	parent, if one exists
childNodes	list (array) of child nodes
firstChild	first child
lastChild	last child
previousSibling	previous sibling
nextSibling	next sibling
attributes	list of attributes of an element
ownerDocument	document containing the element

Here are the node types:

number	description
1	an HTML element
2	an element attribute
3	text
8	an HTML comment
9	a document
10	a document type definition

Slashdot Getting a Face Lift

Matt — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 04:26:31 +0000

Finally! I have been frequenting Slashdot for quite a few years now and the current layout…well…sucks. I have often remarked to my friends that the geek news site really needed a new look. You see, I wouldn’t consider myself a super graphic designer or artsy person but I know what I like. I’m somewhat critical with sites and their layouts, especially with ones that are extremely high profile like Slashdot. There is a LOT of great news articles that come from them but I can never fully get past the icky layout. Well, I have been praying to the binary gods of THE internet and they have seen fit to answer. Slashdot – after 8 years – will be moving to a CSS layout with a more up-to-date look’n'feel. Read the article!