I have not been able to access the UJS site, http://www.ujs4rails.com/
for two days. Does that mean there are problems or that it has been
incorporated into Rails core?
In general, what do you think of using UJS instead of RJS?
I think minus_r plugin is the way to go, developers should learn
javascript anyway so why make a duplicate in ruby for a couple of
functions.
Really? I’m devoting a lot of time and effort to learning Ruby and
Rails as it is. I really don’t want to bother with Javascript coding if
I don’t have to and I seem to see that many other Rails developers do
likewise. Isn’t that so?
I think you’ve got your acronyms switched up. UJS and RJS are not
interchangeable systems. UJS (Unobtrusive JavaScript) is for hiding away
the
“new Ajax.Upater(…)”, etc calls into a .js file instead of filling up
the
HTML source with the mess. It also helps to make sure your site works
with
JS turned off.
RJS is a system that lets you send back javascript code responding to an
AJAX call that then gets executed immediately upon receipt.
UJS vs RJS? That question makes absolutely no sense.
As for minus_r, meh. What RJS gives you is the “guarentee” that the
javascript generated will be cross-browser compatible when such
situations
may arise. Minus_r puts that burden on the developer.
Jason
Thank you for the clarification. I’m busy learning Rails right now with
the new second edition of Agile Web D. with Rails. UJS isn’t
in the book. It was too new. I see a lot of people using it. My
question then is, should I as a newbie start by using UJS from the
outset?
Also, where did it disappear to?
Jason,
RJS does nothing more than use the javascript lib’s that are already
cross-browser compatible. Minus_r doesn’t put that burden on the
developer if you use lib’s that are cross platform (like my favorite lib
jquery).
Don’t you ever use javascript besides rjs? never define javascript in
application.js?
yitzhakbg wrote:
Really? I’m devoting a lot of time and effort to learning Ruby and
Rails as it is. I really don’t want to bother with Javascript coding if
I don’t have to and I seem to see that many other Rails developers do
likewise. Isn’t that so?
The relationship between Rails and Javascript resembles that between C
and Assembler in the 1970s. Back then, you had to know Assembler to
use C, not least because you had to debug things when they went wrong.
Someday our Javascript will be transparent, and all the fun we have
with it today will be a pleasant nostalgia. Until then, learn JS, from
the bottom up, and then do everything you can to use Ruby to avoid
writing any. Same as with C and Assembler.
–
Phlip
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ZeekLand ← NOT a blog!!
On 12/27/06, Jason R. [email protected] wrote:
likewise. Isn’t that so?
–
risking cross-browser incompatibilities, it’s just the nature of the
Jason
Sorry, the above is pointed to Adbur, not Yitz.
Jason
On 12/27/06, Phlip [email protected] wrote:
and Assembler in the 1970s. Back then, you had to know Assembler to
use C, not least because you had to debug things when they went wrong.Someday our Javascript will be transparent, and all the fun we have
with it today will be a pleasant nostalgia. Until then, learn JS, from
the bottom up, and then do everything you can to use Ruby to avoid
writing any. Same as with C and Assembler.–
Phlip
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ZeekLand ← NOT a blog!!
I like the analogy Phlip.
yitz:
While prototype.js and scriptaculous.js may be cross browser, but those
libraries don’t do everything. If you’re writing JavaScript by hand, you
are
risking cross-browser incompatibilities, it’s just the nature of the
language today. You ask if I’ve ever written any by hand: Yes, I have.
In
fact, I’m working on a browser-based Rogue-like RPG and have a fully
unit-tested base of JavaScript code to work with now, all written from
scratch. I’ve taken the stance currently to only work with Firefox and
to
deal with cross-browser issues later, though at the same time trying to
stay
with techniques that already work everywhere. Yes I know how to write
JS, I
know what it entails, and frankly I’d prefer not to if I can, and with
Rails, RJS lets me stay away from JS and stay with Ruby, which I am
always
happy to write.
Jason
JavaScript is primarily used for browser side scripting today. So far,
at least until the Sun Scripting engine with JRuby is released, browser
side ruby is non-standard.
In a typical “real-life” application, I will use six or more distinct
identifiable programming languages (COBOL, SQL, Java, XSLT, HTML,
JavaScript). For me, Ruby fits into the same slot as Java+XSLT.
IMHO, another language is not that much of a burden.
Jason R. wrote:
The relationship between Rails and Javascript resembles that between C
and Assembler in the 1970s. Back then, you had to know Assembler to
use C, not least because you had to debug things when they went wrong.
I like the analogy Phlip.
And you try to tell that to these youngsters today, and they wu-oun’t
believe you!
yitz:
While prototype.js and scriptaculous.js may be cross browser, but those
libraries don’t do everything. If you’re writing JavaScript by hand, you are
risking cross-browser incompatibilities, it’s just the nature of the
language today. You ask if I’ve ever written any by hand: Yes, I have. In
fact, I’m working on a browser-based Rogue-like RPG
Hex-shaped?
and have a fully
unit-tested base of JavaScript code to work with now, all written from
scratch.
Automated unit tests? How? out of curiousity…
–
Phlip
Thank you folks for the background. In fact I was an accomplished C and
Assembler programmer for many years. Presently however, I’m so immersed
in learning material related to Ruby On Rails, CSS, telephony server
AVR and VXML material that I’d be happy to keep JS off the list if I
could.
I feel somehow in the course of this discussion, that my questions
about UJS got lost somewhere… Happily the UJS site is back on the air
and I now understand that UJS is not a replacement for RJS. What is not
clear to me is whether it can help make a developer’s life easier. Is
it’s use recommended? What’s the bottom line?
yitzhakbg wrote:
it’s use recommended? What’s the bottom line?
Just to add my $0.02. I think UJS is excellent – mostly for the way it
separates the js from the HTML. I’m not a professional programmer
(though as a spotty teenager 20-odd years ago I taught myself assembly
and even machine code), and I find that, like rails, it helps push you
in the direction of doing things in an elegant way.
Get the non-js functionality right, add the Ajax functionality via UJS,
and you have clean, gracefully degrading code that is easier to
understand, debug, refactor and may well be smaller too.
On 12/27/06, Phlip [email protected] wrote:
And you try to tell that to these youngsters today, and they wu-oun’t
Hex-shaped?
and have a fully
unit-tested base of JavaScript code to work with now, all written from
scratch.Automated unit tests? How? out of curiousity…
–
Phlip
I’ve taken the javascript_test plugin (
http://dev.rubyonrails.org/svn/rails/plugins/javascript_test/) and
modified
it to use JsUnit instead of Scriptaculous’s unittest.js. I’ve been
meaning
to clean this up and publish it. Basically a Rake task sets up a Webrick
server, mounting the appropriate paths, and then opens up a browser of
your
choice at the javascript test url. If you want to check out what I’ve
got vs
javascript_test feel free to drop me a line and I’ll send it to you.
Jason