I'm becoming a big fan of JQuery, the lightweight open-source JavaScript library. I've even used it on my new photography website, www.leonmccomish.com, where I showcase some of the photos I've taken as I'm learning to use my DSLR.
Over the past few years, I've fallen out of love with Flash and ActionScript for the projects we deliver in my line of work. Compared to DHTML technologies such as Jquery, it takes a lot longer to get a project to an acceptable alpha-stage or prototype. There's also a much, much smaller pool of resources available to deliver the project. Often, if a bug exists towards the end of the project, or the timelines get condensed, you only have the 1, or 2 developers who can a) code AS3, and b) understand the project. This latter point highlights another issue I have with AS at the moment: that, despite the syntax and code structures brought in to formalise the language, every coder seems to code differently. I don't think I have ever worked on a Flash project where a 2nd ActionScripter coming onto the project has not said "I can't work with this code, I'm going to have to re-write it". Costly, time-consuming and very frustrating.
So, to JQuery. Of course, it doesn't have the full animation and interaction capabilities of Flash, but - when well applied - it can do some excellent things. And - remember - no plug-in, no preloader. I found www.usejquery.com, which is a great showcase of the things that can be done with JQuery. Some examples of note:
http://bonadiesarchitect.com/
http://marvinchristianlee.com/
Over the past few years, I've fallen out of love with Flash and ActionScript for the projects we deliver in my line of work. Compared to DHTML technologies such as Jquery, it takes a lot longer to get a project to an acceptable alpha-stage or prototype. There's also a much, much smaller pool of resources available to deliver the project. Often, if a bug exists towards the end of the project, or the timelines get condensed, you only have the 1, or 2 developers who can a) code AS3, and b) understand the project. This latter point highlights another issue I have with AS at the moment: that, despite the syntax and code structures brought in to formalise the language, every coder seems to code differently. I don't think I have ever worked on a Flash project where a 2nd ActionScripter coming onto the project has not said "I can't work with this code, I'm going to have to re-write it". Costly, time-consuming and very frustrating.
So, to JQuery. Of course, it doesn't have the full animation and interaction capabilities of Flash, but - when well applied - it can do some excellent things. And - remember - no plug-in, no preloader. I found www.usejquery.com, which is a great showcase of the things that can be done with JQuery. Some examples of note:
http://bonadiesarchitect.com/
http://marvinchristianlee.com/
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