JavaScript

I will be developing new county GIS Web applications using OpenLayers and that means updating my Web development skills with Javascript, React, Node and friends.

Todo

Read more books (and book-like things)

• W3 Schools
  • JavaScript reference
  • Bootstrap 3 tutorial
  • lots more incl SQL, HTML, CSS, PHP, ...
• Eloquent Javascript, 3rd edition
• High Performance Browser Networking
• How to write a JavaScript package... and other blog posts
• Some books in Safari
  • 6 Javascript Projects seems fun at first glance; includes HyperApp (chapter 4) and Parcel (chapter 5)
  • Learning Node.js Development may be out of date already
• or some as yet unidentified Node book, there are hundreds.
• I have a bunch of eBooks on JavaScript, HTML5, React, etc.

Ole port

I forked Ole from its Boundless past to 2018, and writing about that process in my new Github Wiki.

Look at more

• Web APIs and JavaScript generally seem to go together.
• Bootstrap (need to work on this page)
• OpenLayers (duh)
• Parcel Bundler

Things to look at soonish

• Hyperapp tiny framework with state management. So small even I might be able to understand and use it.
• Preact https://dev.to/aalises/preact--typescript--parcel--redux-zero-rebuilding-the-qmenta-front-end-focusing-on-performance-and-minimalism-1lnp
• React
• Redux state management
• Geolocation: See "HTML5 and JavaScript Web Apps", chapter 7.
• Device Orientation API: "HTML5 and JavaScript Web Apps", chapter 8. Accelerometers, compasses, etc.

Using but don't want to know about

• jquery
• babel - An Ole dependency that translates JS code

Things to ignore for now

• Ionic cross platform build thingie https://www.javascripttuts.com/the-ionic-build-process-tutorial/
• Grunt, Bower, Yeoman
• browserify, browserify-derequire, browserify-header
• babel, babelify
• Angular, Dojo,
• 150 other app frameworks

Using Node

There is a nice blog post here that explains all the stuff I learned painfully slowly over the last month. Read the first part, stop reading when you get to the section on Bower. Time has marched on and now there is Parcel.

Node was originally intended to be for server side Javascript but ends up being a great development tool for client side applications. I have not actually used it on a server yet.

Using Parcel bundler

Automatically creates bundles and runs your app, does "hot module replacement", you can watch what's happening... beautiful. That means when you edit+save that Parcel (node really) sees the file change and triggers a rebuild. Sometimes I have to hit refresh in the browser.

Except - does not work in Visual Studio -- after saving from VS, Parcel does not always see changes. Occasionally it does, I get excited, then it stops.

Parcel + Emacs

Parcel HMR does not work with Emacs until you turn off autobackup files with this in your .emacs:

(setq make-backup-files nil)

I like backup files but I like hot module replacement even more.

A month in and I find I use emacs 90% of the time instead of using VS. Code completion in VS is great but so is the quick edit/debug cycle with emacs.

Building a standalone package

Okay but if I am NOT building an app and instead want to build a standalone module and want to test it in Parcel, how do I do that? I think I should look at https://parceljs.org/packagers.html

Which IDE for JavaScript?

Familiarity led me to work with VS for about a month, then I made the leap to Atom. I am now more comfortable using it for JavaScript but still use VS for Python, they still have a great debugger.

Which one? Short answer:

• Atom: Better editor
• VS: Better debugger

I find for my use that Atom wins out because I haven't been doing single line debugging in VS, I use the browser for debugging with Atom and so far it's been okay. VS is still there if I need it.

Atom IDE

Customizing Atom

Core package "autocomplete-plus" was driving me crazy until I tweaked the settings, changing the delay timeout to 250 and then changing "tab and enter" to "tab always, enter when suggestion explicitly selected".

I found this to be helpful. https://fullstackengine.net/recommended-atom-packages-react-js/

So far I have installed

• atom-save-all Save all changed files on ^-S.
• atom-ternjs (javascript code intelligence)
• atom-wrap-in-tag (Alt-Shift-W) I find I seldom use this one.
• Autoclose HTML
• autocomplete-modules (autocomplete require and import)
• color-picker (alt-ctl-C) THIS IS COOL!
• language-babel (autocomplete jsx and more)
• sync-settings (uses github gist, ctl-shift-p Sync Settings:Backup or :Restore)

I got REALLY tired of having to clean up quotes and brackets and found I could turn off "Autocomplete Brackets" in the core Bracket Matcher package. WHEW. Maybe if I had not learned to program 40 years ago I would need this little crutch? I can close my own quotes; thanks for thinking of me and allowing me to disable the feature.

sync-settings

After putting in the token under settings,

Might want to look at Emmet

Using Visual Studio

As I said before I started using Parcel I used Microsoft Visual Studio. Visual Studio Code looks nice but I don't feel a need to develop new skills right now.

I installed the Node.JS workload in VS and installed the (standalone) portable Node.JS package.

Now in VS I can create a web Node.JS project, and I can run and test the complete app on my desktop so I don't need any access to a real web server.

In my VS project, I have to set the Node.exe path to C:\Users\bwilson\Portable\node-v8.11.3-win-x64\node.exe Once I do that it can find the other tools like npm too.

My typical server.js looks like this; I keep it in a VS template at github to make project creation easier.

var http = require('http');
var port = process.env.PORT || 1337;
var path = require('path'),
    fs = require('fs');
var base = 'C:/GeoModel/WebMaps/OpenlayersApp';

http.createServer(function (req, res) {
    
    pathname = base + req.url;
    if (req.url === '/') {
        pathname = base + '/index.html';
    }
    console.log(pathname);

    if (fs.exists(pathname)) {
        res.writeHead(404);
        res.write('Page not found 404\n');
        res.end();
    } else {
        res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/html');
        res.statusCode = 200;
        var file = fs.createReadStream(pathname);
        file.on("open", function () {
            file.pipe(res);
        });
    }

}).listen(port);

console.log("Server running on port ", port);

When I run the project, it launches server js and in turn launches a browser and serves up my index.html. I can click local links therein. I can edit the index.html and hit reload in the browser and ta-da! there's my updated page.

Debugging the client

Basically you run a tiny server on your desktop and watch output in a cmd window and use F12 to open the console in the browser.

Parcel

Parcel gives you "hot module replacement" and you don't have to write and maintain a server.js, the server is built in.

I have a script set up in package.json to launch parcel and it in turn launches a browser. In a cmd window I type

npm start

Running "npm run build" creates a deployment bundle in the dist/ folder, copy that to a server and voila! Deployed.

Node + Visual Studio

I have a separate Node page now for more Node nodes.

Refer to https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/debugger/client-side-script-debugging

NOTE if you have VS 15.7 installed: Change in 15.7

I was able to change my default browser to IE and get that going. Good news. Now I need to make it work in Chrome, this guy's page helped me: JavaScript debugging in VisualStudio with Chrome and Chrome's page on the subject.

1. Start chrome in remote debug mode: chrome.exe --remote-debugging-port=9222
2. Attach Visual Studio: "Debug" -> "Attach to Process..." -> select the chrome instance

Done.

Links

• Blog about Node
• Parcel docs
• Speaking Javascript : An In-Depth Guide for Programmers by Dr. Axel Rauschmayer
• Eloquent Javascript, third edition Written by Marijn Haverbeke. 3rd edition comes out in print in November 2018
• JavaScript Garden
• JavaScript Pocket Reference (O'Reilly)