May 29, 2014 — Have you ever come across a bit of JavaScript like $(".cta").click(function(){}) and thought, “What the $(‘#x’) is that” If it looks like gibberish to you, then please read on. If you think that snippet of code couldn’t possibly be real, then please … Read More…

July 30, 2013 — Imagine that you wake up one morning, reach groggily for your laptop and fire it up. You’ve just finished developing a brand new website and last night you were proudly clicking through the product list. The browser window is still open, the Widget 3000 is still sparkling in … Read More…

July 23, 2013 — Imagine that you wake up one morning, reach groggily for your laptop and fire it up. You’ve just finished developing a brand new website and last night you were proudly clicking through the product list. The browser window is still open, the Widget 3000 is still sparkling in … Read More…

January 30, 2013 — In the construction industry, a “firewall” is a specially-built wall designed to stop a fire from spreading between sections of a building. The term spread to other industries like car manufacturing, and in the late 1980s it made its way into computing. On one side of the … Read More…

June 6, 2012 — This is a story that dates back to the earliest days of computers. The story has a plot, well, sort of. It has competition and intrigue, as well as traversing oodles of countries and languages. There is conflict and resolution, and a happyish ending. Read More…

January 23, 2012 — At the heart of every modern Mac and Linux computer is the “terminal.” The terminal evolved from the text-based computer terminals of the 1960s and ’70s, which themselves replaced punch cards as the main way to interact with a computer. It’s also known as the command shell, … Read More…

November 2, 2011 — Many Web companies spend hours and hours agonizing over the best domain names for their clients. They try to find a domain name that is relevant and appropriate, sounds professional yet is distinctive, is easy to spell and remember and read over the phone, looks good on … Read More…

July 7, 2011 — Over my programming career, I have made a lot of mistakes in several different languages. In fact, if I write 10 or more lines of code and it works the first time, I’ll get a bit suspicious and test it more rigorously than usual. I would expect to find a syntax error or a … Read More…

May 25, 2011 — Imagine that your biggest client calls because they are having trouble retrieving their email. Or they want to know what their best-selling item is right now. Or their most popular blog post. Perhaps their website has suddenly gone down. You can hardly reply, “No problem, … Read More…

March 23, 2011 — Website speed has always been a big issue, and it has become even more important since April 2010, when Google decided to use it in search rankings. However, the focus of the discussion is generally on minimizing file sizes, improving server settings and optimizing CSS and … Read More…