Web Development
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How to use React (and Redux) with your crufty old CMS
Written by James SinclairGetting your JavaScript to run well on a CMS can be difficult at the best of times. But the difficulty grows exponentially when you add something like React and Redux. And this isn’t the fault of the CMS. Unfortunately most React tutorials assume you’re writing a Single Page web Application (SPA). And that’s great if you are actually building an SPA. But what about when you’re not? What about those of us who have a CMS imposed on us by our employer? What about those situations where a CMS is the best tool for the job?
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React, Redux and JavaScript Architecture
Written by James SinclairWhether you use them or not, React and Redux are important. They have changed the way we think about structuring front-end web applications. They can be very powerful. But they are not magic. JavaScript code does not automatically become better just because it uses React. It is easy to write horrible React code, just like it’s easy to write horrible vanilla JavaScript. So, why is React important then? The thing is, understanding how to write React and Redux code is one thing. Understanding why you’d want to use React and Redux is another matter entirely. Once you understand the why of React,then modern JavaScript starts to make more sense. This is true whatever framework you’re using. Whether it’s React, Vue, Ember, Angular, Web Components, or something else entirely. React and Redux have had a huge impact on how we organise front-end code.
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Faster, Better, Cheaper—The art of making software
Written by James SinclairNobody wants to deliver late, over-budget software. I don’t know a single software developer who wakes up in the morning and thinks “I’d like to do a rubbish job today. How can I cost my employer more money?” And yet, so many software projects don’t go well. And with every new project, there seems to be more and more pressure to go faster. So, if we’re in the business of making software, what do we do? How do we go faster without compromising quality?
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JavaScript. But less iffy.
Written by James SinclairHave you ever started writing some code that seemed so simple? But then you had to validate the input? And handle an edge case? Oh yeah, and that weird thing the server sometimes does? And somehow this oh-so-simple piece of code turned into a mess? This article looks at how we can reduce the complexity introduced by conditionals.
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JavaScript Without Loops
Written by James SinclairWe’ve been talking about writing less complex JavaScript. We do this by choosing the right abstraction to solve a problem. But how do you know which abstraction to use? So far, we haven’t looked at any concrete examples of how to do this. In this article we look at how to deal with JavaScript arrays, without using any loops. The end result is less complex code.
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Indentation is the enemy: Writing less complex JavaScript
Written by James SinclairI’ve been working a lot with a legacy code-base lately. And this one is particularly troublesome. It has all the hallmarks of a rush job. The code is brittle. There are no tests. Things often seem to break at random. And to my embarrassment, I wrote most of it. So, I’ve been thinking about how I ended up here. How did the code get so intertwined and brittle? And how do I prevent it in future?
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The Marvellously Mysterious JavaScript Maybe Monad
Written by James SinclairMonads have a bad reputation in the JavaScript community. Douglas Crockford even said that monads are cursed: Once you reach enlightenment and finally understand monads, you immediately lose the ability to explain them to others. Even amongst experienced functional programmers, monads are treated with respect. But, if you can understand Promises then you can understand monads.
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One weird trick that will change the way you code forever: JavaScript TDD
Written by James Sinclair‘One weird trick’ is a cheesy title, I know. Originally I was using it as a draft placeholder title for a joke. But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed appropriate because it’s true. Test Driven Development is one weird trick that will change the way you code forever. It will make you a more badass developer.
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TDD Should be Fun
Written by James SinclairSometimes TDD can seem like a drag. Are you writing mocks that are several times more complicated than the code you will test? Does your test suite take minutes (or hours) to run? Does refactoring your code fill you with dread because of all the tests to rewrite? If any of this sounds familiar then it may be time to try a new strategy.
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A Gentle Introduction to Javascript Test Driven Development: Part 3
Written by James SinclairThis is part three of a three-part series outlining my personal approach to JavaScript TDD. Testing code that creates HTML and manipulates the DOM can be tricky—especially when testing without a browser. In this article I outline one approach to this, and finish off the sample application we have been building through the series.