<anglebrackets /> Fall 2014 Conference

04 Aug 2014

I’m excited to be on the speaker line-up for the <anglebrackets /> conference this fall. I’ve spoken at the last 3 events, and it gets better each time.

Speakers

I’m honored to be speaking alongside a top notch group of seasoned speakers such as Scott Hanselman, John Papa, Scott Guthrie, Lara Swanson, Dan Wahlin, Douglas Crockford, Todd Anglin, and much more.

Discount Code

If you would like to attend either the <anglebrackets /> (HTML/CSS/JavaScript) or DevIntersection (Microsoft Focused) you can use the MANOR discount code for $50 off your registration price.

NOTE: Registering for one event also gets you into the other event. They take place at the same time and place.

My Sessions

This year I’ll be giving the following 3 presenations.

Grunt Your Way to Front-End Automation

There are a lot of manual processes that front-end developers tend to perform in order to get their job done. In this session we will introduce Grunt and showcase some common workflows to automate building, JavaScript linting, live reloading, CSS processing, Sass linting, unit testing, deploying, as well as making your own custom plugins. We will introduce the basics of Grunt, but as your project gets larger you may find that your Gruntfile soon becomes large and unmanageable. We will look at restructuring your Gruntfile so that it is easier to maintain in larger projects. In addition we will look at how to integrate with Bower and utilize external components.

How to Pick Good Javascript Libraries

There are a plethora of JavaScript libraries out on the internet and it seems like a new one crops up just about every day. How is one supposed to know what library is good and if it should be considered for your next project? Questions like these can be difficult and costly depending on the answer.

During our time together we will address some of the main things to look for when considering a JavaScript library. Even if you choose a good set of libraries there is a risk that they may not work well together or that one of the libraries will cease to exist. We will unpack these concepts and others as we survey the JavaScript library landscape.

As we discuss these strategies we will look at various libraries that conform to these guidelines and examine why they are successful, why they continue to be active, and why you should consider using them in your projects.

The Case for jQuery

Many of us started using jQuery because it ironed out many cross-browser issues, it was easy to use, and had a consistent API. However, web browsers these days continue to get better and are following web standards much more closely.

Do we still need jQuery? Has it become a crutch? Can we get away with dropping jQuery as a dependency and use native browser APIs instead? In this session we will explain when it is appropriate to use jQuery and when you might be able to go without it. We will also briefly discuss why jQuery is a good idea and why you may not dismiss its value.

If you decide to use jQuery then we will look at how you can make a custom build that only includes the parts you need. For the majority of this session we will be looking at common jQuery snippets and show how to convert them either using native browser APIs or utilizing popular micro-libraries. We will look at the feature parity between the two the good, bad, and the uglify.