Compound.js Routes

Previously, I introduced you to Compound, an awesome MVC framework for NodeJS. Today, I am going to expound on how the routing works in Compound. If you are not familiar with how MVC work, I suggest you take a look at some of my older articles about JavaScript Architecture and Code Separation. From here on, I will assume … Read more

What are the Best Productivity Apps for OSX?

I’ve been a huge fan of Apple since college. What’s not to love? The user interface is clean and intuitive, the shell is based on Linux, which makes it easy to use and Macs hold up really well to both wear and tear and malicious software. I use a Macbook Pro as my primary development … Read more

How Do You Make a Compound.js Application?

NodeJS may still be young, but there are already several MVC frameworks popping up to run exclusively on Node. My favorite is CompoundJS. Compound was written to look like to Ruby on Rails. In fact, Compound’s original name was “Railway on Express.” As the defunct name implies, Compound runs on top of the ExpressJS framework. Some of … Read more

How Do You Write an Anvil.js Plugin?

Anvil.js is a powerful “Convention over configuration” build tool that was built by Alex Robson and sponsored by appendTo, which is incidentally where I work now. One of the most powerful things about Anvil is that it has an intentionally light core. It was meant to be primarily run by plugins. Authoring Anvil plugins is a pretty painless ordeal. … Read more

What is jQuery.map?

JQuery comes loaded with various utility methods that make manipulating elements and data easier. One really useful method is jQuery.map(). Map is used to manipulate array values. Behind the scenes, jQuery.map loops over any array that you feed it and gives you a callback function to modify it. In the old days before the dawn … Read more

Getting the Most Out of Your Time

A few years ago, I was working for a small startup in the financial industry. We were working against time to get an application finished before the dwindling money supply was depleted. In the end, we were not able to meet our mark. However, during my time there, I became known as “the Machine” because … Read more

Top 5 Backbone Plugins

BackboneJS is a great framework for building large scalable JavaScript applications. One of the best things about Backbone is that the community has built countless amazing plugins that extend the Backbone namespace. I’ve compiled a list with just a few of my very favorite Backbone plugins. Backbone Forms This is a nifty plugin that generates … Read more

How Do I Share EJS Templates Between the Client-side and the Server-side?

The release of Node.js in 2009 ushered in discussions about the endless possibilities for sharing code between the client-side and the server side. While there are several good examples of entire libraries working very well on both ends, most of the projects that are written in Node tend to shy away from sharing the meat … Read more