Modern web development takes more than just HTML and CSS with a little JavaScript mixed in. Clients want more responsive sites with faster interfaces that work on multiple devices, and you need the latest tools and techniques to make that happen. This book gives you more than 40 concise, tried-and-true solutions to today’s web development problems, and introduces new workflows that will expand your skillset.

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About this Book

  • 344 pages
  • Published:
  • Release: P1.0 (2012-01-04)
  • ISBN: 978-1-93435-683-8

You’ll see a full spectrum of cutting-edge web development techniques, from UI and eye candy recipes to solutions for data analysis, testing, and web hosting.

Make buttons and content stand out with simple cross-browser styles; do animations that work on mobile devices without plugins; build and test HTML emails; and build a flexible layout that works on desktops and mobile devices. You’ll use the Backbone and Knockout JavaScript frameworks to build responsive user interfaces, and you’ll learn how tools like CoffeeScript and Sass offer better ways to develop and maintain your client-side code. You’ll write tests for your code that run in multiple web browsers, use Git to keep track of your work, and even get a little one-on-one time with the Apache web server.

Whether you’re new to front-end development, or you’ve got a few years of experience, you’ll become a more versatile developer by finding out how – and why – to use these solutions in your next web development project.

What You Need:

Your favorite text editor, Mozilla Firefox 3.5 or higher, Google Chrome or Safari, and a working knowledge of HTML and JavaScript.

Contents and Extracts

  • Preface
  • Eye Candy Recipes
    • Recipe 1. Styling Buttons and Links
    • Recipe 2. Styling Quotes with CSS
    • Recipe 3. Creating Animations with CSS3 Transformations
    • Recipe 4. Creating Interactive Slideshows with jQuery
    • Recipe 5. Creating and Styling Inline Help Dialogs
  • User Interface Recipes
    • Recipe 6. Creating an HTML Email Template
    • Recipe 7. Swapping Between Content with Tabbed Interfaces
    • Recipe 8. Accessible Expand and Collapse excerpt
    • Recipe 9. Interacting with Web Pages Using Keyboard Shortcuts
    • Recipe 10. Building HTML with Mustache
    • Recipe 11. Displaying Information with Endless Pagination
    • Recipe 12. State-Aware AJAX
    • Recipe 13. Snappier Client-Side Interfaces with Knockout.js
    • Recipe 14. Organizing Code with Backbone.js
  • Data Recipes
    • Recipe 15. Adding an Inline Google Map excerpt
    • Recipe 16. Creating Charts and Graphs with Highcharts
    • Recipe 17. Building a Simple Contact Form
    • Recipe 18. Accessing Cross-site Data with JSONP
    • Recipe 19. Creating a Widget to Embed on Other Sites
    • Recipe 20. Building a Status Site with JavaScript and CouchDB
  • Mobile Recipes
    • Recipe 21. Targeting Mobile Devices
    • Recipe 22. Touch-Responsive Dropdown Menus
    • Recipe 23. Mobile Drag and Drop
    • Recipe 24. Creating Interfaces with jQuery Mobile
    • Recipe 25. Using Sprites with CSS
  • Workflow Recipes
    • Recipe 26. Rapid Responsive Design with Grid Systems
    • Recipe 27. Creating A Simple Blog with Jekyll
    • Recipe 28. Building Modular Stylesheets with Sass
    • Recipe 29. Cleaner JavaScript with CoffeeScript
    • Recipe 30. Managing Files Using Git
  • Testing Recipes
    • Recipe 31. Debugging JavaScript
    • Recipe 32. Tracking User Activity with Heatmaps
    • Recipe 33. Browser Testing with Selenium excerpt
    • Recipe 34. Cucumber-Driven Selenium Testing
    • Recipe 35. Testing JavaScript with Jasmine
  • Hosting and Deployment Recipes
    • Recipe 36. Using Dropbox to Host a Static Site
    • Recipe 37. Setting up a Virtual Machine
    • Recipe 38. Changing Web Server Configuration Files with Vim
    • Recipe 39. Securing Apache with SSL and HTTPS
    • Recipe 40. Securing Your Content
    • Recipe 41. Rewriting URLs to Preserve Links
    • Recipe 42. Automate Static Site Deployment with Jammit and Rake
  • Installing Ruby
    • Windows
    • Mac OS X and Linux with RVM

About the Author

Brian P. Hogan is an author, editor, trainer, and web developer who’s been building web sites professionally since 1995 as a freelancer and consultant. He enjoys teaching and writing about technology, particularly web design, accessibility, and development. When not hacking on Ruby or JavaScript code, he’s writing songs, watching “The Simpsons,” or spending quality time with his wife and daughters.

Chris Warren is a developer and support lead at Zencoder. He’s been creating websites since teaching himself HTML in 1998, and after stints with ASP and ColdFusion development he came across Ruby and Rails. In addition to programming he enjoys cycling, photography, and going on adventures with his wife.

Mike Weber is a web developer living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He’s been developing professionally since 2005, almost exclusively with Ruby on Rails. When not counting whitespace he enjoys running, swimming and golfing as well as spending time with his wife and dog.

Chris Johnson is a web developer and technology consultant living outside of Madison, Wisconsin. He has been developing websites professionally since 2003 when he got his first paycheck as a freelancer. When he’s not developing, he enjoys tinkering with technology and mechanical things, photography, video games, playing hockey and spending time with his wife and their two dogs.

Aaron Godin is a programmer and designer. If he’s not deep in a Rails application or programming in Ruby, he spends his time working with all things front-end. Besides being a Macophile, his other interests include electronic music, martial arts, skateboarding, and making fun of iPad commercials.

Upcoming Author Events

  • 2013-04-27: Brian P. Hogan
    JRuby - Imagine mixing the easy syntax, powerful language features, and rapid development of Ruby with the speed, power, and flexibility of the Java Virtual Machine? Ruby and the JVM go together like chocolate and peanut butter, and you'll see some examp (Twin Cities Code Camp, Minneapolis, MN)

Comments and Reviews

  • Tech Book Report said:

    As a one-stop introduction to current tools and techniques the sheer breadth of content really stands out. It just brings out the diversity of approaches and the vibrancy of open source development on the web. There’s no doubt, this one is very highly recommended.

  • Solid practices you can take into your everyday web development process. Web designers and developers with a hunger for picking up a collection of quick and expertly described techniques in areas like UI, testing, CSS, and jQuery will love this book. No words are wasted on trivial details; this is a book for proactive web developers who want to pick up some new ideas fast.

    —Peter Cooper Editor Ruby Inside, HTML5 Weekly, and JavaScript Weekly

  • I know of no other resource that even comes close to exploring so many interesting techniques for modern web development. These are real-world pragmatic recipes that you will actually use in your projects.

    —Matt Margolis Manager, application development Getty Images

  • Web Development Recipes is one of those rare books that is not only extremely practical but also incredibly useful for a wide range of readers. Everyone in all aspects of web design and development will find numerous tips and tricks that will be immediately useful in their day-to-day work.

    —Ray Camden Developer evangelist Adobe

  • This is probably the best general web development resource that I’ve read to date. Anyone new to the game can work through this book and gain a level of experience that normally takes years of freelancing. Even seasoned experts could learn some new tricks or explore areas of web development they haven’t touched yet.

    —Steve Heffernan Creator VideoJS

  • This is a design patterns book for modern web development, offering problem statements and solutions that can be applied to nearly any web development platform. It’s a must-have for web developers who need to update their skills with the latest and greatest tools and techniques, and it’s a library of solutions for those who are already up to speed. The authors have done an excellent job of condensing a tremendous amount of information into easy-to-understand, realworld solutions.

    —Derick Bailey Independent software developer Muted Solutions, LLC

  • The recipe is easy to follow, explanatory, and helpful…. Want to make Apache secure with HTTPS and SSSL? Consider Recipe 39. Need to debug some JavaScript? Try Recipe 31. Need to make a responsive, grid-driven layout? Go to Recipe 26. Want to know how to use Mustache in your HTML? See Recipe 10.

    —Armando Roggio Senior Contributing Editor Practical Ecommerce & Ecommerce D