5 posts tagged “web development”
Ben Forta, Adobe Systems Inc's Senior Technical Evangelist, will be visiting Indy today to present a preview of the features and updates to the upcoming release of ColdFusion 8 (Scorpio). Ben's role with Adobe is focused primarily on ColdFusion and Flex. He is highly recognized as one of the most knowledgeable resources in the world on ColdFusion web development. He is also author of the best ColdFusion book, IMHO, the Web Application Contruction Kit (WACK).
The event will be held at the former Walker Information building at Noon on Tuesday, May 8. A copy of Flex 2 with Charting and a copy of ColdFusion 8 will be raffled off as well. Pizza will be served for attendees.
For more information and details on the event, please visit the Hoosier Fusion site. To learn more about Ben Forta, please visit his site Forta.com.
Thanks, Ben for not forgetting Indy in the pre-release tour! ColdFusion rocks!!
Are you a savvy web developer or even a novice aspiring for a career in web development? Or maybe you just like to add cool stuff to your MySpace, Facebook, or blog? If you fit into one of these groups, listen up. Widgets are the word. And widgets are part of a new paradigm in web development that encompasses the social and collaborative nature of the internet.
So what the heck is a widget? A widget is typically a reusable component that can be easily incorporated into any web page by inserting a portable chunk of code. Widget developers do a lot of the hard work in creating functional components that can be shared and consumed by the larger user community. Many widgets also offer some level of customization to best integrate with the existing branding or theme of a web page. Widgets are typically built using a combination of HTML, JavaScript, AJAX and/or Flash. But other flavors can also exist. Another advantage to widgets are their ability to facilitate rapid application development. Why reinvent the media player..er, wheel..if you don't explicitly have to do so?
There are literally hundreds of widgets already available and I expect this marketplace will have a massive growth explosion in the next few years, particularly due to their universal nature and the aggressive growth of social networks. Some good examples of widgets are blogging enhancements, hit counters, badges for services like Twitter, interactive games, messaging and communication services, search engines, music players, and video players. You may have already used or encountered a widget and not even know it. Ever see a YouTube video on MySpace? Ever wondered how some bloggers have gotten badges placed on their site? Ever seen Google ads displayed on a web page (via AdSense)? These are all widgets. Many are free and some can even make you money such as Amazon.com's Add Quick Linker Widget with Amazon Associates ID (affiliate program). In addition to blogs, social networks, and web sites, widgets are also becoming more supported and popular on the developing web desktop environments such as PageFlakes and NetVibes.
Three of the leading resources for widgets are WidgetBox, YourMinis, and ClearSpring. Each site offers a library of hundreds of web widgets. I have personally used WidgetBox on several occassions and found it to be an outstanding resource in my arsenal of web development tools.
Widgets will likely continue to contribute to the web 2.0 movement. With tools like widgets and new web-based development platforms, which I will be covering in my next post, developers are discovering new and exciting ways to rapidly program web applications and deliver innovative solutions with less cost to the bottomline.
TypePad already supports most widgets including their own custom widgets called Blidgets. Since Six Apart also owns and runs VOX, why aren't widgets supported?!?! Contact VOX and let them know that you want widget support.
Additional Resources:
- Read/WriteWeb: Web 2.0 Expo: All Things Widgets
- Read/WriteWeb: Widgetsphere: New Playground For Marketers
- Read/WriteWeb: Widget services ramping up
- Read/WriteWeb: ClearSpring enters the widget space with a developer focus
- Read/WriteWeb: Widgetbox Releases Blidgets
- Read/WriteWeb: ClearSpring Gets $5.5M from AOL Founders
- Read/WriteWeb: Widgetbox calls to widgetize the Web
- Read/WriteWeb: Widget services ramping up
With this consolidation and unification of products, Adobe will expand its CS offerings in a variety of suite solutions that best fit an individual designer, developer or production artist. Suites include:
- Design Standard
- Photoshop CS3 Extended, Illustrator CS3, InDesign CS3, Acrobat 8 Professional
- Design Premium
- Design Standard applications + Dreamweaver CS3, Flash CS3 Professional
- Web Standard
- Dreamweaver CS3, Flash CS3 Professional, Fireworks CS3, Contribute CS3
- Web Premium
- Web Standard applications + Photoshop CS3 Extended, Illustrator CS3, Acrobat 8 Professional
- Production Premium
- After Effects CS3 Professional, Premiere Pro CS3, Photoshop CS3 Extended, Flash CS3 Professional, Illustrator CS3, Soundbooth CS3, Encore CS3
- Master Collection
- After Effects CS3 Professional, Premiere Pro CS3, Photoshop CS3 Extended, Flash CS3 Professional, Illustrator CS3, Soundbooth CS3, Encore CS3, Dreamweaver CS3, Flash CS3 Professional, Fireworks CS3, Contribute CS3
I have been fortunate enough to see the earlier versions of many these applications while attending Adobe MAX 2006. There are many compelling reasons to upgrade to these newest releases and amazing new capabilities. I have been a beta tester for Photoshop CS3, Fireworks 9 (CS3), and Soundbooth for several months. Each application has been tremendously improved. In particular, Adobe has leveraged Macromedia's expertise in interface design to improve application workflow and usability. The Adobe Acrobat Reader 8 is just one example. Its a much cleaner and usable solution. In line with these changes, Adobe modified its traditional pallettes to the more functional docks, but most importantly added a single bar rollover for each dock to increase workspace and lessen visual clutter. It rocks.
I'm sure there will be much more to write here after I receive my official release. Adobe is one of my favorite companies and one of the most respected innovators in software. So get your creative juices flowing and check out these kick-butt applications!
So today, I came across a Digg about this indie-hit song called "Code Monkey" written by former VB.Net programmer, Jonathon Coulton. Jonathon quit his job as a programmer for executive recruiting firms to pursue a career in music. This song was the result of this life change.
I thought that it was pretty funny and worth a Digg but I also found buried in the comments a link to a plethora (non-geeks...that means, a lot) of remixes and animations for the song. So I'm posting an animated version to this blog, but be sure to check out all the remixes (if you like it).
If you really like the song..download the MP3.
Congratulations, Jonathon...another YouTube star is born!
I received fantastic news today. I will be attending the Adobe MAX 2006 Conference in Las Vegas in October. I have long wanted to attend this developers conference (formerly held by Macromedia).
For the conference, I will be staying at the lavish and posh hotel, The Venetian. I will be participating in many sessions primarily focused on web development and rich internet application development. I'm especially looking forward to the sessions on Spry, Apollo, and Flex frameworks and acquiring skills in integration with ColdFusion and PHP.I know many of you won't understand all that, but the geeks will.
I'll have some freetime in the evenings and on Monday, October 23. This will be my first time in Las Vegas. There's a lot to do but I'm not really sure where to start. Have any suggestions to make my trip memorable?
