JavaScript-based animation is often as fast as CSS-based animation — sometimes even faster. CSS animation only appears to have a leg up because it’s typically compared to jQuery’s $.animate(), which is, in fact, very slow. However, JavaScript animation libraries that bypass jQuery deliver incredible performance by avoiding DOM manipulation as much as possible. In this article, Julian Shapiro will smash some myths, dive into some real-world animation examples and improve your design skills in the process. If you love designing practical UI animations for your projects, this article is for you!
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In this article, Matthew Andrews, a lead developer behind FT Labs, shares a few insights he had learned along the way while building the FT application. You’re going to make a simple offline-first to-do application with HTML5 technology. Matthew will also be running a “Making It Work Offline workshop” at our upcoming Smashing Conference in Freiburg in mid-September 2014.
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WordPress has released the first release candidate for the upcoming 4.0 version. According to the official version numbering, and a new major release is always a cause for excitement! Since Daniel Pataki has always used WordPress in English, it took him a while to realize how important internationalization is. Version 4.0 makes it much easier to get WordPress to speak your language. In fact, the first installation screen asks you to choose your native tongue. Let’s take a look at the new features the team at WordPress has been working on for us!
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In this article, Mattan Griffel will share best practices that he has discovered from using spaced repetition to learn and master a programming language. Some great articles on this topic are already out there, including “Memorizing a Programming Language Using Spaced Repetition Software” by Derek Sivers and “Janki Method” by Jack Kinsella. But because you’re busy, he’ll quickly summarize some of the best practices that I’ve learned along the way.
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According to a 2009 study, 47% of visitors expect a page to load in under 2 seconds, and 57% of visitors will abandon a page that takes more than 3 seconds to load. Mobile Internet usage is expected to overtake desktop usage. This shift towards Internet-enabled mobile devices means that having a fast website has never been as important as it is today. Users now expect websites to be lightening fast, and developers who don’t comply will ultimately lose out to developers who invest in delivering a great experience.
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Gulp is one of quite a few build tools available in JavaScript, and other build tools not written in JavaScript are available, too, including Rake. Why should you choose it? Gulp is a build system that can improve how you develop websites by automating common tasks, such as compiling preprocessed CSS. In this article, Callum Macrae will see how you can use Gulp to change your development workflow, making it faster and more efficient.
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Why would you even need to generate SVG on the server? The technology is entirely client-side, so what would motivate anyone to move it from there? When we talk about “generating SVG” nowadays, we mean “generating SVG with JavaScript.” The current state of browser support and libraries makes the creation of complex visuals a trivial task. There are a lot to choose from! So the right question is, how do we continue generating SVG with JavaScript while also putting the results of the generation on the server?
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Brian Wood found many web shops faced challenges fitting responsive design into their workflow, and the role of most web designers had changed to include coding in some form or another. Well, a new generation of visual responsive design tools has arrived. These responsive design tools are for anyone who understands HTML and CSS (or is willing to learn) and wants to visually design a responsive website — and have code to show for it. You could use one of these tools in the design process to create responsive comps, regardless of whether you intend to use the generated code. So, let’s have a look!
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In this article, Nik Sumeiko will show you how to migrate a Git repository to a new host quickly and easily.
When he had to move a number of Git projects to a new host, it took him quite some time to find an accurate method, but after many attempts he found a solid and effective way. The most important thing is to make sure that your branches and tags and your commit history are all moved.
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The best writers often work with an editor (or two), who will help them coalesce their words into something more compelling or easier to understand. Having worked with several editors, Paul Lloyd really came to appreciate this aspect of the writing process. Refinement is an essential aspect of any creative process. As refactoring code can make a program more logical and efficient, editing a text can allow an underlying idea to be more clearly stated, or make a piece more enjoyable to read. And when he heard about Editorially, a collaborative writing tool designed with Web writers in mind, he immediately signed up.
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