Front-end Web Development/Notes

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Notes from previous Front-end Web Development classes.

Class for 2014-09-22: AJAX

We'll talk about Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, a technology that allows us to talk to a server without leaving the page. jQuery makes this easy. We'll add AJAX functionality to the Twitter app and, time permitting, the corporate site. We'll use these PHP files to test them out.

If you don't already have web hosting, please sign up for some at NearlyFreeSpeech.NET for free (or very cheap). Also, install the FileZilla Client.

Lecture video
Lecture materials

Class for 2014-09-15: HTTP & SFTP

We'll talk about file transfer: HTTP, which is the method of getting and sending information in the web browser, and SFTP, which is a method of securely uploading files to a web host.

We'll set up free web hosting accounts at NearlyFreeSpeech.NET (which you should sign up for now), and upload to them using the FileZilla client (which you should install now).

Lecture video
Lecture materials

Class for 2014-09-08: Sign-up forms

We'll continue working on our site and add a sign-up form, with validation, inside the modal. We'll learn about built-in HTML5 validation, but also use the jQuery Validation plugin to help us where browser support is necessary.

Lecture video
Lecture materials

Class for 2014-08-25: jQuery UI

We'll go back to the "professional" site we put together a number of weeks ago and add more functionality to it with some jQuery plugins. We'll first make a dialog box - or a "modal" - pop up when you click the sign up buttons. We'll do this by introducing jQuery UI to make common user controls easier to create. We'll also compare our CSS-only menu with one made with the help of jQuery, explaining the differences between the two.

Lecture video
Lecture materials

Class for 2014-08-18: jQuery, cont'd

We'll continue learning about jQuery by focusing on the example we saw last class. We'll add functionality to it that made it seem more like the real thing.

Lecture video
Lecture materials

Class for 2014-08-11: jQuery

We'll introduce jQuery, a JavaScript library that makes web programming a whole lot easier. jQuery is the most popular of many libraries that allow us to interact with the document easily, while also providing us with a few tools that are missing from the base language.

To learn what jQuery can do, we'll add some scripting to this sample web app.

Lecture video
Lecture materials

Class for 2014-08-04: JavaScript, cont'd

We'll continue discussing JavaScript basics: arrays, objects, creating functions, and scopes.

Lecture video
Lecture materials

Class for 2014-07-28: JavaScript

We'll talk about JavaScript: making web pages interactive through client-side code. We'll use the console, which is part of the browser's developer tools, to demonstrate the basics of the language. This and next week's class can be treated as a general introduction to programming.

Lecture video
Lecture materials

Class for 2014-07-21: Working from professional mockups, cont'd

We will continue working off of this mockup, its annotated version, and its image assets and learn a bit about CSS3 in the process.

Here's where we left off last time.

Lecture video
Lecture materials
Finished site

Class for 2014-07-14: Working from professional mockups

We'll take the knowledge we gained from looking at the CSS box model, floats, and positioning, and work off of this mockup and its annotated version to make a site that could pass as a professional design (but don't take my word for it). Image assets can be found here.

Lecture video
Lecture materials

Class for 2014-06-23: CSS positioning

In the last few classes, we've focused on element measurements and floats. This time, we'll focus on positioning of elements: using absolute, relative, or fixed positioning to put the elements anywhere we want on the whole page. We'll use this mockup along with these assets to put together a page that demonstrates positioning.

Lecture video
Lecture materials

Class for 2014-06-16: CSS floats

Floating is the secret sauce behind creating websites with multiple columns, navigation menus, and basically any block element that's aligned to the left or right. We'll learn about floats by taking a look at some examples, then take a mockup and create a site from it.

Lecture video
Lecture materials
Mockup source code

Class for 2014-06-09: CSS selectors and the box model

CSS selectors are probably the most complex part of the CSS language, so we'll look at them further in-depth. We'll also talk about the box model, the display concept that makes words and containers on the web look like they do.

Lecture video
Lecture materials

Class for 2014-06-02: the basics

THIS is the class to attend if you are a complete beginner! We are starting the curriculum of this class from square one. We'll cover the very basics:

  • Explaining "front-end" vs. "back-end"
  • Discussing tools of the trade
  • Explaining the separation between structure, presentation, and behavior
  • Writing a basic HTML page
  • Styling the page with basic CSS
  • Explaining the role of front-end web development as a job and career

No recap session for this class. Please show up before 8pm, as physical space is limited. Bring a laptop!

Lecture video
Lecture materials


Notes archive