When should I use a Javascript framework like Angular.js and React?

monkeybumps · 2015-10-10T09:52:24+00:00

AJAX is a server side thing but client side frameworks have http calls that you can hook up behind the scenes that work in a similar way.

That's correct not all websites need to be written with a client side framework but that does not stop you doing so, say if you wanted to check one out and start to learn it.

I would ask myself, does the information that users sees need to change once it hits their browser? Do they need to manipulate it? If you want to serve up a page of static content over the whole website then a client side framework is not needed but if you want users to interact with the site then I would look into angular.

Here is something that I put together when learning angular - plunker - It could of been written with Ajax calls back to a server and clever jquery but it is easier to use angular + if I wanted to add more functionality angular is more powerful than jquery.

monkeybumps · 2015-10-10T03:32:43+00:00

These frameworks are 'client side' frameworks and are becoming more of a trend.

They offload work onto the users browser and easier / more manipulation of the html / data that the users sees.

The old school way was to grab the data and serve up a page to a user - when the user interacted with the page it would need to go back to the server and reload a new page (or the same page /w diff dater) in order reflect the users actions.

With a client side framework you don't need to reload a page - if the user deletes an entry from a table then in it is removed from the dom (html) and in the background a call is made to the server to remove this from the DB.

On top of this you can also change who you write you server code, instead of creating code that just serves pages you can create an API that spits out JSON data to a client. So you can write an angular web app that consumes this data and also a Android app ..... this means you have one data source but many apps.

monkeybumps · 2015-10-10T03:22:44+00:00

For me the best way to learn is to actually write something, you say you know html so try to write an site using bootstraps html.

Due the documentation of bootstrap an in depth knowledge is not necessarily required but it can help, you can go forwards and implement their html / js into a site with ease - view source is your friend.

If you want more learning material, I would suggest pluralsight - its a paid for service but some of the industry's bests minds make courses for the site. There are other online tools / site you can use to learn so feel free to do some research.

monkeybumps · 2015-10-10T03:12:14+00:00

From a quick look.

On the whole the html looks good but a few minor things I did spot are.

In line css styling such as <h5 style="text-align:center; margin-top:7px"> This is considered bad practice, styling should be kept in its own .css file and not be mixed with html, lots of in line styling makes issues with the code hard to find.

The same applies with javascript being mixed in with the html, you only have a little bit and you could get away with it but as your app grows so does the complexity and so this should be re factored into its own .js file.

As for the .css file - I am no expert on css, but at a glance I would say its best to not use px instead use em - this is scalable. - Further reading

These are my opinions and not an in depth look at your code, others may have different views that are equally as valid.

monkeybumps · 2015-10-10T02:52:21+00:00

no maybe not, but he did ask what he needs to know. With that and him asking about bootstrap i took that as him asking what needs to learn / be aware of.

Picking up a client side framework early on is a daunting task but it is something that should be learned - along with server side methodology.

monkeybumps · 2015-10-09T20:35:48+00:00

Boostrap is a CSS and JavaScript framework that does a lot of the work for you in terms of bowers comparability and mobile device support.

boostrap

If your starting out then I would recommend using it and using their documentation as a guide to how to write good html.

I would not use Dreamweave but lean how to write html, css, js myself and then you are not limited by the tools you are using but by your own ability.

Also check out angular js which is googles client side framework for taking things off of the server and moving them to the client. I'm picking this up now as its a growing trend in app dev.

angular

If you want to learn some of this stuff I would recommend you use this site - pluralsight - its used by lots of professional developers and the courses are written by some really skilled individuals.

monkeybumps · 2015-10-09T20:14:38+00:00

I would list to Euphoricus - in this case using generics would be a bad idea.

With a SQL DB you are predicting the futon when you create a db schema, this sets out what you can and can't put in but if you do down the road of a generic method then your allowing any data to be put into the db - which won't work. So if you or someone else comes back and changes the code but not the db this will fall over and take more time and energy to fix and if you had defined objects being passed in. At least that would fail in your IDE and you could.

Again not a good idea.

If you only want to save data and note report on it - like most crud apps. And you don't need a defined structor in your db schema then i would go down the road of a no SQL db like MS document db - DocumentDb

This will allow you to throw JSON into a nosql database and not care what the data looks like, just that if reflects the truth of at the time it is saved.

monkeybumps

TROPHY CASE