Eurovision 2016 - Close but no cigar for Australia

This last weekend saw the running of the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Stockholm, Sweden and it was by far the best one I have watched so far. The two hosts, Petra Meade and Mans Zemerlow were just great and the show was a hoot.

Australia was represented by Dami Im who sang "The Sound of Silence". When the jury voting came in, Dami was a long way in front, but when the televotes were counted, Australia just got pipped by Ukraine at the last minute. 

I was sad for Dami, but glad for Ukraine, considering all the bad stuff that has been happening there.

Murach's JQuery - my book review

Murach’s jQuery

 2^nd Edition

By Zak Ruvalcaba and Anne Boehm

Section 1 – JavaScript essentials for jQuery users

Chapter 1 – Page 3 – Introduction to web development.

As I am already familiar with basics of web development, I only skimmed through this chapter. I typed in your email program and it worked OK (after I got rid of my typing errors!). I only needed to skim through the rest of this chapter as I am quite familiar with the contents.

Chapter 2 – Page 49 – A JavaScript subset for jQuery users.

As I read through this chapter, I found it a good refresher. I did not need to study it in depth as I am already familiar with the concepts presented.

Chapter 3 – Page 99 – How to script the DOM with JavaScript.

This chapter provided a good refresher in the whole idea of scripting the DOM. I had studies this in your previous book (JavaScript 2^nd Edition), but it was still worth going through it to update the concepts presented.

DOM scripting is fairly complicated is fairly complicated and it was worth studying all the examples that were presented.

All the examples worked well and I got up to speed very quickly.

Chapter 4 – Page 133 – How to test and debug a JavaScript or jQuery application.

I did not bother with this chapter as I have found that you only learn debugging by practice.

Section 2 – jQuery essentials

Chapter 5 - Get off to a fast start with jQuery.

Page 158 – 159 Introduction to jQuery.

These pages were a nice introduction to just what jQuery can do.

Page 160 – 161 How jQuery can simplify JavaScript

development

The example you present on page 161 sure looks much simpler than the original FAQ application.

Page 162 – 163 How jQuery and plugins can simplify JavaScript development.

It was good to explain that jQuery is an add on to JQuery.

Page 164 – 165 The basics of jQuery programming.

These pages provided a good discussion of how to use the jQuery library in your application, as well as the migrate plugin.

Page 166 – 167 How to code jQuery selectors.

I had to read through these pages a few times to make sense of them. The key bit was that the item inside the parenthesis was a CSS selector. The key thing to understand that the dollar sign refers to the jQuery library and that we code selectors by using the CSS syntax.

Page 168 – 169 How to call jQuery methods.

These pages gave me the impression that jQuery is certainly a lot easier to use than JavaScript.

Page 170 – 171 How to use jQuery event methods.

These pages provided a good exercise on how to code the jQuery event methods.

Page 172 – 175 The email application in jQuery.

By studying the jQuery code on page 175, it was noticeable that there is a difference with the earlier versions of the Email List application.

Page 176– 177 A working subset of selectors, methods and event methods.

These pages were a lot to take in. I think that it will take practice eto get good at it.

Page 178 – 179 The most useful methods.

All I could do was read through these methods and try to make sense of them.

Page 180 – 181 The most useful event methods.

Again, all I could do was read through these methods and try to make sense of them.

Page 182 – 183 Other event methods that you should be aware of.

Same as in the previous examples. It will take time and practice to get used to them all.

Pages 184 – 191 Three illustrative applications.

Again, all I could do was read through these methods and try to make sense of them.

Page 184 – The FAQ’s application.

It was impressive just how brief the JavaScript application is. JQuery certainly trims things down a fair bit.

Page 186 – The image swap application in jQuery.

Again, what is interesting is just how much simpler the JavaScript code is.

Page 190 – The image Rollover application in jQuery.

Same as in the previous two examples.

Perspective.

This chapter did provide a useful introduction into a working subset of the most useful jQuery selectors. While it does give me an idea of what there is to work with, I can see that it will take time and practice to get seriously good at it. It is just as well that you presented some good examples to work with.

Adelaide United win their first grand final

This afternoon, I watched the A-League grand final on TV. In the end, Adelaide United were too strong for the Western Sydney Wanderers. Both sides had previously lost there only two previous grand final appearances, so I would be third time lucky for one team but third time a runner up for the other. In the end, Adelaide United won 3-1. It was a very entertaining game but I was happy to see Adelaide win. They deserved it.