As I walk along the path of Web Design, I have encountered both joys and hardships. The excitement of getting a page to function correctly and the disappointment when the page opens and it is blank or worse.
With this semester coming to a close, I ponder what trial and tribulations I have encountered along the way.
The Zen Garden was so exciting. This assignment showed me not only how important CSS is, but by using CSS correctly you can change how a website looked and how a person can interpret the subject of a website.
Midterm completed and the clock on the computer says it is time to continue down the path of Web Design.
Before I started the second half of this semester, I was in hopes that JavaScript would be an asset to help me design a better website. At this point I am still not sure.
JavaScript, what does that mean? Ok, let’s break this down. When you hear Java, most people think Hot Coffee. Script, this word can go in a couple of different directions like writing, prescriptions, etc.
Ok so now I have hot coffee in my website. Not. JavaScript might be a hot item when I finally get a better grasp of it, but at this point the word script is meaning a prescription to help calm my nerves.
Oh well, no drugs, just a deep breath, get up and walk away for a few and let the brain waves relax and the creative juices start to flow again. Then back at it some more.
I may not completely (maybe not much) understand JavaScript, but I have enjoyed the course completely. A good challenge is always great and this has been a challenge.
I am an online student and one of the downfalls of that is not getting to know your fellow classmates. I would like to say thank you to the students in the class for sharing through your sites, projects and the blogs (which are all great). Thank you Ryan for all of your assistance and courage, and patients. It takes both to teach courses like yours. I would like to thank someone from last semester that told me when I was getting very frustrated that I would do fine. This person wrote and told me, after all, your name on your site is chill, so do just that and chill. This student popped in to say hi at the first of this semester and has been there to assist me through the frustrations of JavaScript. Thank you all.
Now to say farewell and I hope that we cross paths again as we all continue to walk down the path of Web Design (not programming). To the students that are going to graduate this spring I wish you good luck.
Happy Web Designing to everyone and farewell.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Events
Events can sure change the look of a page if done correctly. JavaScript is a challenge, but I think that I am finally starting to understand some of what it is suppose to do.
A problem that I had with the accordion was getting it to work in all browsers. I could get it to work in Internet Explorer, but Firefox didn’t like it for some reason. Still trying to figure out what I am doing incorrectly or maybe it’s just my computer (the operator). My homework page was getting very full and so I decided to try and implement my accordion on that page. This makes the page a little more compact.
Events are important to web sites not only to make a page look nicer, it makes the pages so that more information can be posted on one page without a lot of confusion and clutter.
A problem that I had with the accordion was getting it to work in all browsers. I could get it to work in Internet Explorer, but Firefox didn’t like it for some reason. Still trying to figure out what I am doing incorrectly or maybe it’s just my computer (the operator). My homework page was getting very full and so I decided to try and implement my accordion on that page. This makes the page a little more compact.
Events are important to web sites not only to make a page look nicer, it makes the pages so that more information can be posted on one page without a lot of confusion and clutter.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
History of JavaScript
I am going to start off this post with a site that I came across. The videos are very interesting and to me they are worth the time it takes to watch them. The site is http://www.catonmat.net/blog/learning-javascript-programming-language-through-video-lectures/ . He has an interesting way of explain JavaScript.
JavaScript was developed in 1992 by Jim Gosling. He gave it the name of C++++ as it was to be the successor to the language C++. His friends told him that he needed to rename the program so he named it Oak because of a tree outside his window. It was used in interacting television but the company failed. Gosling and his associates decided that the program needed a new name so they named it Java. Then in 1995 it was renamed to HOT JAVA to be used in browsers.
Eich at Netscape was developing program called LiveScript which used JavaScript language in it. Microsoft wanted in on the language, so Gosling teamed up with Microsoft in 1996 and the program received the name JScript.
The program had security problems that needed to be addressed and worked on. The problems with JavaScript finally needed a debugging setup so that it would work correctly in different browsers.
I think that JavaScript will continue to grow and evolve right along with the browsers growing and changing.
I am afraid at this point I don’t care where JavaScript is going, but that is just because I am having a hard time understanding and making it work correctly.
JavaScript was developed in 1992 by Jim Gosling. He gave it the name of C++++ as it was to be the successor to the language C++. His friends told him that he needed to rename the program so he named it Oak because of a tree outside his window. It was used in interacting television but the company failed. Gosling and his associates decided that the program needed a new name so they named it Java. Then in 1995 it was renamed to HOT JAVA to be used in browsers.
Eich at Netscape was developing program called LiveScript which used JavaScript language in it. Microsoft wanted in on the language, so Gosling teamed up with Microsoft in 1996 and the program received the name JScript.
The program had security problems that needed to be addressed and worked on. The problems with JavaScript finally needed a debugging setup so that it would work correctly in different browsers.
I think that JavaScript will continue to grow and evolve right along with the browsers growing and changing.
I am afraid at this point I don’t care where JavaScript is going, but that is just because I am having a hard time understanding and making it work correctly.
JavaScript or Java
Java and JavaScript always get confused for obvious reasons. To start off the names will throw a person right off the bat. They could have come up with really different names for these programs when they started arguing over them.
The main difference is that Java can stand on its own while JavaScript must be placed inside an HTML document to function. Java is a much larger and more complicated language that creates "standalone" applications. A Java "applet" (so-called because it is a little application) is a fully contained program. JavaScript is text that is fed into a browser that can read it and then is enacted by the browser.
Another major difference is how the language is presented to the user when surfing the web. Java must be compiled into what is known as a "machine language" before it can be run on the Web. Basically what happens is after the programmer writes the Java program and checks it for errors, he or she hands the text over to another computer program that changes the text code into a smaller language. That smaller language is formatted so that it is seen by the computer as a set program with definite beginning and ending points. Nothing can be added to it and nothing can be subtracted without destroying the program.
JavaScript is text-based. It is written into an HTML document and it is run through a browser. You can alter it after it runs and run it again and again. Once the Java is compiled, it is set. Sure, you can go back to the original text and alter it, but then you need to compile again.
It is said that JavaScript’s main benefit is that it can be understood by the common human. I guess that depends on the common human. It is much easier and more robust than Java. It allows for fast creation of Web page events. JavaScript is a little more forgiving than Java. It allows more freedom in the creation of objects. Java is very rigid and requires all items to be denoted and spelled out. JavaScript allows you to call on an item that already exists, like the status bar or the browser itself, and play with just that part. JavaScript is geared to Web pages. Java is geared toward where it is needed most at the time.
A scripting language, script language or extension language is a programming language that controls a software application. "Scripts" are often treated as distinct from "programs", which execute independently from any other application. At the same time they are distinct from the core code of the application, which is usually written in a different language, and by being accessible to the end user they enable the behavior of the application to be adapted to the user's needs. Scripts are often, but not always, interpreted from the source code or "semi-compiled" to byte code which is interpreted, unlike the applications they are associated with, which are traditionally compiled to native machine code for the system on which they run. Scripting languages are nearly always embedded in the application with which they are associated.
The name "script" is derived from the written script of the performing arts, in which dialogue is set down to be spoken by human actors. Early script languages were often called batch languages or job control languages. Such early scripting languages were created to shorten the traditional edit-compile-link-run process.
The main difference is that Java can stand on its own while JavaScript must be placed inside an HTML document to function. Java is a much larger and more complicated language that creates "standalone" applications. A Java "applet" (so-called because it is a little application) is a fully contained program. JavaScript is text that is fed into a browser that can read it and then is enacted by the browser.
Another major difference is how the language is presented to the user when surfing the web. Java must be compiled into what is known as a "machine language" before it can be run on the Web. Basically what happens is after the programmer writes the Java program and checks it for errors, he or she hands the text over to another computer program that changes the text code into a smaller language. That smaller language is formatted so that it is seen by the computer as a set program with definite beginning and ending points. Nothing can be added to it and nothing can be subtracted without destroying the program.
JavaScript is text-based. It is written into an HTML document and it is run through a browser. You can alter it after it runs and run it again and again. Once the Java is compiled, it is set. Sure, you can go back to the original text and alter it, but then you need to compile again.
It is said that JavaScript’s main benefit is that it can be understood by the common human. I guess that depends on the common human. It is much easier and more robust than Java. It allows for fast creation of Web page events. JavaScript is a little more forgiving than Java. It allows more freedom in the creation of objects. Java is very rigid and requires all items to be denoted and spelled out. JavaScript allows you to call on an item that already exists, like the status bar or the browser itself, and play with just that part. JavaScript is geared to Web pages. Java is geared toward where it is needed most at the time.
A scripting language, script language or extension language is a programming language that controls a software application. "Scripts" are often treated as distinct from "programs", which execute independently from any other application. At the same time they are distinct from the core code of the application, which is usually written in a different language, and by being accessible to the end user they enable the behavior of the application to be adapted to the user's needs. Scripts are often, but not always, interpreted from the source code or "semi-compiled" to byte code which is interpreted, unlike the applications they are associated with, which are traditionally compiled to native machine code for the system on which they run. Scripting languages are nearly always embedded in the application with which they are associated.
The name "script" is derived from the written script of the performing arts, in which dialogue is set down to be spoken by human actors. Early script languages were often called batch languages or job control languages. Such early scripting languages were created to shorten the traditional edit-compile-link-run process.
Monday, November 3, 2008
My Impression Of JavaScript
Well I just can’t use that kind of language online in a blog to explain what I think of JavaScript. What I say in the privacy of my own home is ok, but it wouldn’t be polite to repeat it in a blog.
As you can tell JavaScript is not impressing me, or maybe it’s I’m not impressing JavaScript. My calculator is broken and it doesn’t want to work and I won’t go to the next one until I can figure out the first. Way to much information for me to consume without a lot more time or an example of what I am suppose to be doing. I am just thankful that I decided to try Math this semester or I wouldn’t have even known what this chapter was talking about with integers, equations and exponents. I still fill very lost.
Have I thought of any ways to implement JavaScript yet? Well at this point the garbage can sounds like a really good place to put it. I haven’t given up completely yet but I am going to try and find some help. This might be hard because I don’t think I know anyone in this area that knows anything about JavaScript.
Hopefully my next post will be more positive, but good luck on this assignment to all of my fellow classmates.
As you can tell JavaScript is not impressing me, or maybe it’s I’m not impressing JavaScript. My calculator is broken and it doesn’t want to work and I won’t go to the next one until I can figure out the first. Way to much information for me to consume without a lot more time or an example of what I am suppose to be doing. I am just thankful that I decided to try Math this semester or I wouldn’t have even known what this chapter was talking about with integers, equations and exponents. I still fill very lost.
Have I thought of any ways to implement JavaScript yet? Well at this point the garbage can sounds like a really good place to put it. I haven’t given up completely yet but I am going to try and find some help. This might be hard because I don’t think I know anyone in this area that knows anything about JavaScript.
Hopefully my next post will be more positive, but good luck on this assignment to all of my fellow classmates.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Mobile Devices
Well here we are at the mobile devices. How are we going to deal with them? Crazy that’s how. I just can’t imagine accessing the Internet from a cell phone. The screen is so very small that I can’t understand how anyone will be able to read anything on them. I am still trying to get sites to just work on the Internet Browsers and now I have to think about how my sites are going to be viewed on mobile devices. How and what will have to be done to sites so that a person can view them on a mobile device.
Well the technology is starting and will continue to grow. Adobe has a site where you can post comments and questions in place and it has been a very busy site. It is called Mobile and Devices Cookbook http://www.w3.org/2006/07/Mobile_Web_Design.pdf . Their new Master Collection includes technology to design for the mobile devices. Another interesting item I found is from W3 http://www.w3.org/2006/07/Mobile_Web_Design.pdf .
How are mobile devices going to affect the designing profession? It is going to change the way that we design web sites. There is a CSS style sheet,
http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=HandheldStylesheets , for handheld devices. The designers are working on a style sheet for Zen Garden, http://www.gotomobile.com/archives/handheld-style-sheets-and-getting-to-zen , so that it will be accessible for mobile devices.
This is another fast pace part of web site design. I am interested in designing sites that will work on mobile devices, but I won’t be using them until the screens get a lot bigger.
Well the technology is starting and will continue to grow. Adobe has a site where you can post comments and questions in place and it has been a very busy site. It is called Mobile and Devices Cookbook http://www.w3.org/2006/07/Mobile_Web_Design.pdf . Their new Master Collection includes technology to design for the mobile devices. Another interesting item I found is from W3 http://www.w3.org/2006/07/Mobile_Web_Design.pdf .
How are mobile devices going to affect the designing profession? It is going to change the way that we design web sites. There is a CSS style sheet,
http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=HandheldStylesheets , for handheld devices. The designers are working on a style sheet for Zen Garden, http://www.gotomobile.com/archives/handheld-style-sheets-and-getting-to-zen , so that it will be accessible for mobile devices.
This is another fast pace part of web site design. I am interested in designing sites that will work on mobile devices, but I won’t be using them until the screens get a lot bigger.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Accessiblility
Accessibility on the Internet is about making sure that access to the information provided online is not restricted, and can be accessed by everyone. However, accessibility entails more than considering the needs of those with physical, hearing or visual impairments. A more accessible website can make the experience better for everyone.
Web accessibility involves using both the new and old technology. Doing this will make your site available to a more devices used to access the internet.
When doing web content it is important to consider the fact that there are people that can’t see and/or hear. So when designing a web site it is important to try and do the content so that everyone has an option on how they will see or hear the content of the pages. This can be difficult to complete.
With the help of synthesized speech and braille display technology, like Jaws and Windows-Eyes, even completely blind people can use the internet. But for these technologies to work properly, web pages must be written in correct HTML. The needs of people with poor site can vary. Some people can only read large text and others can only read small text.
So when designing a website it is important to design a flexible site.
People with a hearing impairment tend not to use assistive software to improve their web browsing; instead, they rely on the website being accessible by providing any audio content in alternative formats, such as captioning or transcripts.
When it comes to standards that should be used when designing an accessible website, those can be found on a number of sites. Information on the standards that should be followed can be accessed at WC3 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 , Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) - home page , Wikipedia:Accessibility - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . Another site that I found interesting is Index of Government Guidelines for Web Sites- Standards Schmandards .
It is important to try and conform to these standards so that the sites that are designed are able to be viewed by everyone.
There are a number of tools that can be used to help design an accessible website. For the hearing impaired a list of tools can be found at 100 Web Tools for Learning with a Disability - College Degree.com .
I believe that it is important to make sure that you do the best you can to design a website that is accessible to everyone. At my age I am already starting to have problems reading some of the sites that I go to online. I can’t imagine what it would be like not to be able to use the internet.
Web accessibility involves using both the new and old technology. Doing this will make your site available to a more devices used to access the internet.
When doing web content it is important to consider the fact that there are people that can’t see and/or hear. So when designing a web site it is important to try and do the content so that everyone has an option on how they will see or hear the content of the pages. This can be difficult to complete.
With the help of synthesized speech and braille display technology, like Jaws and Windows-Eyes, even completely blind people can use the internet. But for these technologies to work properly, web pages must be written in correct HTML. The needs of people with poor site can vary. Some people can only read large text and others can only read small text.
So when designing a website it is important to design a flexible site.
People with a hearing impairment tend not to use assistive software to improve their web browsing; instead, they rely on the website being accessible by providing any audio content in alternative formats, such as captioning or transcripts.
When it comes to standards that should be used when designing an accessible website, those can be found on a number of sites. Information on the standards that should be followed can be accessed at WC3 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 , Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) - home page , Wikipedia:Accessibility - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . Another site that I found interesting is Index of Government Guidelines for Web Sites- Standards Schmandards .
It is important to try and conform to these standards so that the sites that are designed are able to be viewed by everyone.
There are a number of tools that can be used to help design an accessible website. For the hearing impaired a list of tools can be found at 100 Web Tools for Learning with a Disability - College Degree.com .
I believe that it is important to make sure that you do the best you can to design a website that is accessible to everyone. At my age I am already starting to have problems reading some of the sites that I go to online. I can’t imagine what it would be like not to be able to use the internet.
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