2. January 2023

You might not need jQuery or Javascript!

Transition

jQuery has provided easy access to complicated core Javascript solutions in the past and has been shielding us from difficult workarounds for legacy browsers. But times have changed and many of those things can be done as easily using Javascript directly.

jQuery is a fast, small, and feature-rich JavaScript library. It makes interactions with HTML documents easy, and is widely used in web development to add features to web pages and to simplify the process of writing JavaScript. With a combination of versatility and extensibility, jQuery has changed the way that millions of people write JavaScript.

5 reasons, why you might want to stop using jQuery!

jQuery is a large library, and loading it can add a significant amount of time to the page load time of your website. If your website doesn’t use many of the features provided by jQuery, it may be more efficient to use smaller, specialized libraries or to write your own code.
Some developers prefer to use modern JavaScript features like classes and modules instead of the functional programming style used by jQuery.
As web development has evolved, many of the tasks that jQuery was commonly used for can now be accomplished with vanilla JavaScript, which is plain JavaScript that does not use any additional libraries.
Using jQuery can make it more difficult for other developers to understand and maintain your code, especially if they are not familiar with the library.
In some cases, jQuery may not work as expected with certain versions of modern browsers, or it may not be optimized for mobile devices.

That being said, jQuery is still a popular and widely used library, and there are many valid reasons to continue using it. It is ultimately up to you to decide whether the benefits of using jQuery outweigh the potential drawbacks in your particular situation.

Benefits to using pure JavaScript

Improved performance: Pure JavaScript code is generally faster than code that uses libraries, because it does not have the overhead of loading and interpreting the library.
Smaller file size: Pure JavaScript code is generally smaller in file size than code that uses libraries, because it does not include the library code. This can result in faster loading times for your website or application.
More flexibility: With pure JavaScript, you have complete control over the code, and you can customize it to fit your specific needs.
Better understanding and control: By writing your own JavaScript code, you can gain a better understanding of how it works and how to troubleshoot any issues that may arise.
Improved compatibility: Pure JavaScript code is more likely to work across different platforms and devices, because it does not depend on a specific library or framework.
Easier maintenance: Pure JavaScript code is generally easier to maintain than code that uses libraries, because it does not require updating or maintaining the library code.

“You might not need jQuery”

Easily search and compare direct Javascript solutions to jQuery ….

How jQuery does it:

$.getJSON('/my/url', function (data) {});

1	$.getJSON('/my/url', function (data) {});

Pure Javascript:

const response = await fetch('/my/url');
const data = await response.json();

1 2	const response = await fetch('/my/url'); const data = await response.json();

Link

or use UmbrellaJS

UmbrellaJS is a lightweight JavaScript library that provides a number of utility functions and features for working with DOM elements and handling events. It was designed to be small, fast, and easy to use, and it does not have any dependencies on other libraries.

Some of the features provided by UmbrellaJS include:

Easy element selection and manipulation using CSS-style selectors
Support for chaining multiple function calls on the same element
A simple event system for handling events on elements
Utility functions for working with arrays, objects, and strings
Functions for handling AJAX requests and working with JSON data

UmbrellaJS is a good choice for developers who want a simple, lightweight library for working with DOM elements and handling events. It is especially well-suited for smaller projects or for developers who want to avoid the overhead of larger libraries like jQuery.

Selector demos:

u('ul#demo li')
u(document.getElementById('demo'))
u(document.getElementsByClassName('demo'))
u([ document.getElementById('demo') ])
u( u('ul li') )
u('<a>')
u('li', context)

u('ul#demo li')

u(document.getElementById('demo'))

u(document.getElementsByClassName('demo'))

u([ document.getElementById('demo') ])

u( u('ul li') )

u('<a>')

u('li', context)

Documentation
Migrate from jQuery

HTMX might be another way …

HTMX (HTML enhanced for asynchronous communication and XML) is a JavaScript library that allows you to add asynchronous communication and other interactive features to your web pages using HTML attributes and elements. It allows you to make AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) requests and handle responses directly in your HTML, without the need for writing any JavaScript code.

HTMX works by intercepting events on HTML elements and making asynchronous requests based on the attributes you specify. For example, you can use the hx-get attribute to make a GET request to a specified URL, and use the hx-trigger attribute to specify an event that should trigger the request. You can also use the hx-target attribute to specify an element on the page where the response should be inserted.

Here’s an example of how you might use HTMX to make a GET request and insert the response into a div element:

<button hx-get="/some/url" hx-target="#target">Load Data</button>

<div id="target"></div>

When the button is clicked, HTMX will make a GET request to /some/url and insert the response into the div element with the id of target.

HTMX is designed to be easy to use and flexible, and it can be used to add a wide range of interactive features to your web pages.

I am currently using HTMX in one of my longterm projects and will be talking about it more in a separate article in the future !

HTMX Reference / Documentation

It is ultimately up to you to decide which approach is best for your particular project. Sometimes a combination is needed ;)

Enjoy coding…

31. October 2021

Importing CSV files with HTML5 and Papa Parse!

PAPA PARSE

Papa Parse is a powerful, in-browser CSV parser for the big boys and girls :)
If you do need easy CSV parsing and conversion back to CSV, take a look at it!

// Parse CSV string
var data = Papa.parse(csv);

// Convert back to CSV
var csv = Papa.unparse(data);

// Parse local CSV file
Papa.parse(file, {
	complete: function(results) {
		console.log("Finished:", results.data);
	}
});

// Stream big file in worker thread
Papa.parse(bigFile, {
	worker: true,
	step: function(results) {
		console.log("Row:", results.data);
	}
});

// Parse CSV string

var data = Papa.parse(csv);

// Convert back to CSV

var csv = Papa.unparse(data);

// Parse local CSV file

Papa.parse(file, {

complete: function(results) {

console.log("Finished:", results.data);

}

});

// Stream big file in worker thread

Papa.parse(bigFile, {

worker: true,

step: function(results) {

console.log("Row:", results.data);

}

});

SIMPLE TESTDRIVE

 <input type="file" name="File Upload" id="txtFileUpload" accept=".csv" />

1	<input type="file" name="File Upload" id="txtFileUpload" accept=".csv" />

document.getElementById('txtFileUpload').addEventListener('change', upload, false);

 function upload(evt) {
  
	var data = null;
	var file = evt.target.files[0];
	var reader = new FileReader();
	reader.readAsText(file);
	reader.onload = function(event) {
		var csvData = event.target.result;
		
		 var data = Papa.parse(csvData, {header : true});
		
		console.log(data);
		
	};
	reader.onerror = function() {
		alert('Unable to read ' + file.fileName);
	};

}

document.getElementById('txtFileUpload').addEventListener('change', upload, false);

function upload(evt) {

var data = null;

var file = evt.target.files[0];

var reader = new FileReader();

reader.readAsText(file);

reader.onload = function(event) {

var csvData = event.target.result;

var data = Papa.parse(csvData, {header : true});

console.log(data);

};

reader.onerror = function() {

alert('Unable to read ' + file.fileName);

};

}

ABOUT

Papa Parse is the fastest in-browser CSV (or delimited text) parser for JavaScript. It is reliable and correct according to RFC 4180, and it comes with these features:

Easy to use
Parse CSV files directly (local or over the network)
Fast mode
Stream large files (even via HTTP)
Reverse parsing (converts JSON to CSV)
Auto-detect delimiter
Worker threads to keep your web page reactive
Header row support
Pause, resume, abort
Can convert numbers and booleans to their types
Optional jQuery integration to get files from <input type="file"> elements
One of the only parsers that correctly handles line-breaks and quotations

USAGE

I am currently using it to quickly parse Adobe Audition CSV marker files and prepare them for storage for my podcast.

Name	Start	Duration	Time Format	Type	Description
Ankündigungen	0:20.432	0:00.000	decimal	Cue	
Stargate Table Read	1:12.811	0:00.000	decimal	Cue	
Dune Part One 2021	1:58.677	0:00.000	decimal	Cue	
Dust - Cosmo	2:20.925	0:00.000	decimal	Cue	
Nina - Beyond Memory	2:51.276	0:00.000	decimal	Cue

Name Start Duration Time Format Type Description

Ankündigungen 0:20.432 0:00.000 decimal Cue

Stargate Table Read 1:12.811 0:00.000 decimal Cue

Dune Part One 2021 1:58.677 0:00.000 decimal Cue

Dust - Cosmo 2:20.925 0:00.000 decimal Cue

Nina - Beyond Memory 2:51.276 0:00.000 decimal Cue

Papa.unparse(tabData, {	
	delimiter: "\tab",
	header: true,
	newline: "\r\n",
	skipEmptyLines: true
})

Papa.unparse(tabData, {

delimiter: "\tab",

header: true,

newline: "\r\n",

skipEmptyLines: true

})

Papa Parse @ GitHUB

Homepage / Demo

17. May 2019

CSS3 Animations with Special Effects.

A nice set of CSS3 Animations that can be easily used to spice up your design.

The animations can be triggered through Javascript, jQuery and the timings can be tweaked through pure CSS. The package also provides gulp, so that you can tweak every aspect easily.

Demo
Github

4. February 2018

jQuery QueryBuilder

QueryBuilder is an UI component to create queries and filters.

It can be used on advanced search engine pages, administration backends, etc.
It is highly customizable and is pluggable to many jQuery widgets like autocompleters, sliders and datepickers.
It outputs a structured JSON of rules which can be easily parsed to create SQL/NoSQL/whatever queries.
And it also comes with a set of great plugins and has a full events system for even more features.

Really neatly programmed solution, with many possible ways to hook into it with your own plugins.

GitHub

26. January 2018

Element Selections via Regular Expression with jQuery filter

Easily target images with the jQuery filter function, using a Regular Expression. With this you can easily find elements that have a matching class, like ‘featured_image’ or ‘testimonial_image’.

// build our desired collection.
// matches both $('img.featured-testimonial__image') & $('img.featured-work__image')
const matches = $('img').filter(function() {
                  return this.className.match(/__image/);
                });

// Do something to collection
$.each(matches, function(i, item) { 
  $item = $(item);
  src = $item.attr('src');
  $item.attr('src', src.replace('http://', '//'));
});

// build our desired collection.

// matches both $('img.featured-testimonial__image') & $('img.featured-work__image')

const matches = $('img').filter(function() {

return this.className.match(/__image/);

});

// Do something to collection

$.each(matches, function(i, item) {

$item = $(item);

src = $item.attr('src');

$item.attr('src', src.replace('http://', '//'));

});

Enjoy coding …

23. January 2018

60+fps lightweight parallax for jQuery

A tiny requestAnimationFrame powered 60+fps lightweight parallax tilt effect for jQuery.

See the Pen <a href="https://codepen.io/AldoFerrari/pen/JELBwJ/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Parallax tilt effect, Tilt.js</a> by Aldo Ferrari (<a href="https://codepen.io/AldoFerrari" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@AldoFerrari</a>) on <a href="https://codepen.io" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CodePen</a>.<br />

GitHub

30. August 2017

GreenApe is breathing again

After some downtime, GreenApe is breathing again. I revived the brand with a good friend of mine and we will be reopening shop options shortly.

Michael and I have been friends for a long time. We have been working on many different projects over the years.

He launched GreenApe in 2011 and I helped him with his first steps. A couple of months ago we decided to merge our competences and expand what GreenApe offers and stands for.

From the website: “The GreenApe brand was established in 2011. GreenApe’s career began with the 1st Single Malt Whisky Coffee.

As the first of its kind, our coffee is refined with Original Single Malt Whisky. To this day, he pampers many connoisseurs and gourmets with his unique taste. Now there is another reason to rejoice.

From now on, we are continuously expanding the GreenApe product world with several stylish gadgets and useful accessories. For you this means that you will be able to discover even more beautiful, special or practical things in the future.“

GreenApe is all about lifestyle & leisure products, fun gadgets and unique food & drinks.

14. May 2017

Lets fix the short comings of current CSS integrations – EQCSS / Element queries

“Element queries are a new way of thinking about responsive web design where the responsive conditions apply to elements on the page instead of the width or height of the browser.
Unlike CSS @media queries, @element Queries are aware of more than just the width and height of the browser, you can write responsive conditions for a number of different situations like how many characters of text or child elements an element contains.
Another concept that element queries brings to CSS is the idea of ‘scoping’ your styles to one element in the same way that JavaScript functions define a new scope for the variables they contain.”

Element Query Conditions

5. April 2017

Browse tree-like data in columns, similar to OS X’s file manager – FinderJS

Data source: Array or Function (useful for asynchronous operations, e.g. calling an API).
Styling: Use any CSS/framework of choice (Flexbox). You can also define how items are rendered and change default classnames.
Keyboard navigation: use arrows keys to navigate.
Events: several events are emitted to allow for custom behavior.
Module formats: Provided as an npm module (CommonJS), a jQuery plugin, and exported as the global finder.

FinderJS

15. March 2017

We all love fireflies – jQuery Firefly

Firefly jQuery Floating Pixels .

GitHub

Transition

5 reasons, why you might want to stop using jQuery!

Benefits to using pure JavaScript

“You might not need jQuery”

or use UmbrellaJS

HTMX might be another way …

Enjoy coding…

PAPA PARSE

SIMPLE TESTDRIVE

ABOUT

USAGE

Enjoy coding …

Element Query Conditions

Width-based Conditions

Height-based Conditions

Count-based Conditions

Scroll-based Conditions

Aspect-based Conditions

Meta-Selectors