Aptana has released ActiveRecord.js, an open source object relational mapper (ORM) that supports multiple JavaScript environments, including: Google Gears, In Memory (if no SQL server is available on the client), Adobe AIR (client-side persistence) and on the server-side SQLite and MySQL (via Aptana Jaxer, the open source Ajax server).
www.activerecordjs.org
Came across this perusing the web… great round-up of the fonts most commonly used by professional designers. Check it out over at Jacob Cass’s site:
Top 7 Fonts Used By Professionals In Graphic Design
Really cool project for porting PHP functions to JS… 198 so far. A lot of really handy string and array functions, definitely worth a look.
PHP to JavaScript Project
I’ve been toying with REST and other SOA kinda things lately, and stumbled across these links in my research:
SOA PHP Homepage
SCA_SDO PECL Extension
If you’ve ever used Firebug for JS development, you know how indisposable it is. If you haven’t, you’re insane, and you need to start using it now! Firebug Lite was created to be able to embed a more limited version of the library in non-firefox browsers. Previously, you couldn’t do much with it outside of the console. functions and use a JS command-line. Looks like that’s a thing of the past with the new release. It’s pretty much as functional as the actual Firefox extension, and is well worth checking out:
Firebug Lite 1.2 Released (via Ajaxian)
Welcome to Gen X Design. The name’s a little corny, I know, but it’s one of those things I’ve used since I was a kid.
Anyway, I built this site for me (and some friends) to share their thoughts and ideas. I love all things web 2.0, shiny icons, and gradients. I live in the San Francisco Bay area, work for eMeter, and am sometimes available for contract work.
Mozilla announced a new feature for add-ons today: collections. It also looks like they’re getting the ball rolling with several useful collections, such as the Web Developer Collection. It includes all sorts of goodness like Firebug, ySlow, GreaseMonkey, ColorZilla, and many more. Well worth a quick visit.
FireFox Web Developer Collection
David Walsh has put together a really handy plugin for MooTools called ScrollSpy. What impressed me the most was the automatic display of a “Return to Top” link on your page once you’ve scrolled beyond a certain boundary. There are also a handful of other neat demos worth checking out. Sounds simple, but if you think about it, there are tons of great applications for this plugin.
http://davidwalsh.name/scrollspy
It’s been said a thousand times I’m sure, but picking the right JavaScript framework is a pain. There are all sorts of biased arguments for one vs. another, but there’s really nothing subjective out there… until now. Arguably, jQuery is probably the most popular JS framework out in the wild, but that doesn’t always mean it’s the best choice. What you choose should really depend on what you’re trying to do. Aaron Newton of Clientcide has put together a really impressive look at jQuery vs. MooTools, which doesn’t categorically say one is better than the other, but, rather, goes into detail about why one framework is better than the other based on your needs. Definitely worth a read:
www.jqueryvsmootools.com
ORM is certainly a very popular concept these days, but I haven’t really come across any PHP implementations that I found worth-while. Sure, big frameworks like CakePHP may have ORM functionality, but I’m not a fan of huge frameworks. I’ve also dabbled in my own implementations, but never got too far, as I’m not a fan of re-inventing the wheel. At any rate, I stumbled across Doctrine by accident (good ol’ RSS readers), and am impressed, mostly because it’s something that can be integrated into existing projects / frameworks.
www.doctrine-project.org
Ajaxload.info used to be the site of choice when it came to generating preloader images… unfortunately, I think it’s been bested. Preloaders.net allows you to generate not only the standard set of preloaders, but even 3D ones! You also get much more control (size, speed, etc.) and the quality of the final images is impressive. Definitely worth checking out.
www.preloaders.net
