Back in November of 2010 I wrote a post titled Reducing Code using jQuery Templates that demonstrated how jQuery Templates could be used to reduce significant amounts of JavaScript code. Although the topics and code discussed in that post are still valid and relevant in today’s applications, things have a changed some when it comes to the future of jQuery Templates. I’ve had questions come up in the jQuery classes that we offer, at conferences, and online about the future of jQuery Templates so I thought I’d put a post together that provides updated information.

I really enjoy coding up HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript applications but there are some things that I’m better off writing with the help of a development tool. For example, CSS3 gradients aren’t exactly the most fun thing to write by hand and the same could be said for animations, transforms, or styles that require various vendor extensions. There are a lot of online tools that can simplify building HTML5/CSS3 sites and increase productivity in the process so I thought I’d put together a post on a few of my favorites tools.

I had the opportunity to present at the HTML5 Web Camp event in Phoenix, Arizona last month with Michael Palermo (one of my favorite speakers) and the recording of the event is now available online. Thanks to Scott Cate and the EventDay staff for taking time to record, index, and publish the event – they did an awesome job.

JavaScript has come a long way since the mid-90s when I first started working with it in Netscape 3 and Internet Explorer 3. Back in the day I thought JavaScript was a painful to use but over the years I’ve learned to love it and appreciate what it offers as a language.  JavaScript is quite flexible and can perform a wide variety of tasks on both the client-side and server-side. In fact, I used to prefer it to VBScript on the server-side when writing classic ASP applications and today we have server-side frameworks such as Node.js that are JavaScript based. With the rise of HTML5 and new features such as the Canvas API and SVG JavaScript is more important than ever when building applications. As applications use more JavaScript it’s important that the code is structured in a way that’s easy work with and maintain.

I had an opportunity to talk with Carl Franklin and Richard Campbell (the .NET Rocks guys) on their new show called The Tablet Show. It’s always fun talking with them since there’s never a boring moment or lull in the conversation. In this episode we talk about the new WinRT framework used to build Metro apps in Windows 8, the future of Silverlight, the drama some developers seem to love, and a bunch of other topics related to development including why Microsoft is moving toward the Start Screen that you see in Windows 8. Give the show a listen by clicking the image below.