How to Write Better Code

Writing code is all about readability.  Even if it's just for you.  When writing code, using some best practices and standards will make your life a lot easier when trying to fix errors, stay organized, or when working with teammates.

1. Use Comments to Help Readability

Comments within code are useful for several reasons.  First, comments are a great way to type out in a conversational language what the code is doing.  Second, they are a great way to organize your code.  If you're scrolling through a long piece of you, it's a lot easier to look for comments than a particular line of code; they stand out more.  Third, it's a great way for team members to understand what you were doing or thinking as well.

2. Use a Standard When Indenting

When writing code, make sure to keep a standard throughout all of your code.  When you indent a certain way, do it for a similar piece of code later on.  It helps improve readability, audience understanding, and it might even help you spot errors.

3. Use a Standard When Naming Files, Classes, Etc.

Take a look at the code in green.  It's in camelCase.

There are several ways to name files and it really just boils down to what you're comfortable with.  A lot of people might be used to doing something like this: Desk_Talk_Blog or DESK_TALK_BLOG, or Desk-talk-blog.  But for me, I like to use a modified version of PascalCase called camelCase.  I will keep the first word lower-cased and for the second word I will capitalize the first letter and so on.  This is what it ends up looking like: deskTalkBlog.  So why do this?  Again, it helps with readability and it just gives you some organization.  I recommend doing it throughout your website down to the folder directories.

4.  Avoid Deep Nesting and Keep Line Length To A Minimum

Don't do this

It's easy to get carried away with nesting.  It is usually a great way to keep organized and matches a standard when indenting, but sometimes it is totallly unneccesary and just adds difficulty when trying to read it.

Furthermore, keep the length of your lines short.  It is so annoying when you're trying to read a line of code and you have to scroll to the right to continue reading it.  There's a reason why newspapers use multiple columns rather than one column; it's much easier to read.

That's it for now.  These tips have mostly been focused on HTML/CSS, but they can extend how to other languages as well.

Web Design Basics

I'll just begin by stating it.  Great web design is tough.  It's a delicate balance of pleasing aesthetics and usability.  You could have an extremely impressive and beautiful website, but if users struggle to navigate through the content, then you have failed as a web designer.  Like with any form of art, there are some basic principles behind the design that have existed for decades.  I really wish to say centuries here, but web design has only existed for the past two decades or so.  However, web design is pretty much art; the principles behind art have existed since the beginning of time.

Anyway, let's not get too caught up in being correct with our wording here.  There are some basic principles behind web design.  Follow these principles and you should be able to make a great interface and web experience (UI/UX).

1. KISS (Keep it simple, stupid)

Simple, flat design

Play KISS music on page load.  Actually, that is an extremely bad idea.

Simplicity is really overlooked with beginning designers.  It's easy to get caught up in adding flash and thrill to a design, but really it's just unnecessary junk that is taking away from your work's usability.  Ideally, beginning artists or designers should work with minimalism for a large portion of their learning experience.  If you are able to make an attractive design with minimal materials/shapes/lines, then you have the potential to be a great designer.  But back to web design, keeping it simple will definitely help make your site easily navigable and it will just flow so much better.

2. Don't Make Users Think

Yeah, I'm going there with the stock photography

This is a continuation of KISS.  Making users have to think about how to use your website is going to cause some negative thoughts about your site, which could potentially harm your brand.  Having a really complicated design might look great, but it could cause problems in some users.  Just because you think something works well doesn't mean everybody else will have the same opinion.  You have to remember, the web plays host to all sorts of skill levels.

3. Remember Conventions

This is like a design principle within a design principle.  Following conventions works because, well, it's a convention; it's just the way something is usually done.  For example, when first loading a page, most users' eyes will travel to the top left of the page because we have been taught to read from left to right.  Most people expect the site's logo or home link to be placed there.  It's really something we are so used to and we don't have to think about it.

Explore a handful of websites and pick up some of the conventions they are utilizing.  However, this doesn't mean you have to play by the book 100%.  Deviating from the norm is actually a good way to explore your creativity, but ignoring several design conventions in doing so could lead towards poor usability.  In other words, the sites that deviate from the norm still apply some of the basic web design conventions.

4. Stay Consistent

For some, a website is just another tool to represent a brand or an idea.  These brands have already made decisions for their color schemes, typography, etc.  These visuals stay consistent across all forms of media and it's comforting because we can still recognize it as the original brand.  Your website shouldn't be any different.  Using 15 different fonts, different spacing rules, different layouts, alignments,  or pages that don't look similar to the original index page can cause users to question if they are even looking at the same website.  It can cause usability issues as well. You want to stay consistent with your page design.  You are creating a set of rules within the first few seconds of a page visit.  Users will understand these rules quickly.  But if you can change the way the site works or feels, you are really causing some problems.

5. Get Inspiration/Explore!

There is no better way to learn than by learning from your peers or competitors.  Visit as many websites as you can within your site's field and see what trends are popular, what conventions the sites share, what layouts are working, and what doesn't work.

Developer Toolkit - Essentials

I've made a post before about developer toolkits and stuff to add to them, but I haven't really mentioned the essentials.  In today's post, I'm going to go over items that I use almost on a daily basis.  Sometimes, I don't even realize I am using them because they are part of my boilerplate.  Let's get started:

1. HTML5 Boilerplate

This is basically an HTML5 ready template to get started with your projects.  It includes a lot of stuff that I'm going to go over, but I have just started using this boilerplate. Before, I had to download everything separately.

2. Normalize.css / Reset.css

These stylesheets reset CSS so that your document is pretty much clean from styling.  It's a great way to start projects because you don't have to tackle with any predefined CSS styles.  These stylesheets are also great for browser compatibility.  For example, a line height might look different across several computers.

3. HTML5 Shiv

This makes older versions of IE understand HTML5 tags.  Very useful, but it looks like the days of supporting XP are numbered.

4. jQuery

Download the full or minified versions and slap them on your <head> tag. This is the most popular Javascript library out there.

5. Modernizr

Another Javascript library.  This one checks to see if your browser has certain features.

6. Adobe Kuler

This tool is more for a designer, but I have really grown to enjoy the application.  It comes in both a desktop and mobile version.  It basically helps you choose color palettes.  You can also take pictures with your phone and it will auto detect the color palette of the picture.

That's about it for my toolkit.  Again, these are my most-used tools.  There are plenty of tools out there and I ocassionally I will use them, but these are a must-have.

Take care and stay tuned for more updates!

Desk Talk Weekly - Web Turns 25 and More

Hey y'all,

I've decided that I might start collecting weekly news articles and trending conversations about web development and post them here.  Besides stuff in the news,  I want to talk about stuff that is trending or that people are talking about a lot.  We've got a big news event this week, so let's get started:

The World Wide Web Turned 25 Wednesday

Tim Berners-Lee submitted a proposal for the idea of the internet in March of 1989, the year I was born.  His proposal brought ideas of community and sharing stuff over what we call today, the Internet.  Soon, they developped the first website ever.  Today, Berners-Lee is still promoting the web, but argues that it should be open, free, and accessible by everybody.

CSS UI Icons

Trevan Hetzel has taken some of the most popular icons on the web and has recreated them using only CSS.  He argues that images are really annoying to deal with.  They can mess up responsive environments, are sometimes large, and they load slowly.  But, images cannot be replaced for now because we enjoy them too much.  Instead, he argues that we should code what we can.  I can see these becoming really popular; they are some of the most used icons and he provides the code for each one.  He also explains his method.

2048

This game has been talked about a lot this week.  The game is really simple and addicting, but what we're interested in is that it was made with Javascript!  Maybe the author will come out and talk about his Javascript creation soon.

Crowdsourcing Missing Plane Search

Crowdsourcing on the internet has been a big thing in recent years.  Basically, we are able to do bigger and better things through online collaboration; stuff that one person or a small team could never do.  This week, we were greeted with the sad news that a recent Malaysian plane was lost which carried over 200 people.  In an attempt to find the missing plane, which is still lost as of March 13th, people have been scanning satelitte images and reporting pictures of wreckage-like images.  So far, nothing has turned out to be anything of note, but the fact that we are all working together is an awesome thing.  And as developers, we have the opportunity to make stuff like this happen.

It is nearing the end of my graduate program, which means my classmates and I are working towards completing our online portfolios.  I thought I would address this topic from a web design point of view.  I haven’t made a web design post yet, but I feel like I should since front-end development and web design are so closely linked.  In fact, I have decided to change the title of my blog to: Desk Talk – Front-end Development + Web Design.  One of my passions is graphic design, so I really feel like I should be exploring both topics since this blog is meant to be a learning tool for me.  The more topics I write on both topics, the more I will learn in general about the web.  Plus, I believe most web design careers involve a little bit of coding.

Anyway, let’s get back to today’s topic: portfolios.

Portfolio sites are supposed to be platforms to show off your work.  It is recommended that you show 10 or 15 pieces.  The layout of the site is up to the creator, but generally you want to have it pretty simple.  Basically, you don’t want your really awesome interactive features taking away from the meat of the page, which is your portfolio work.

I am in the process of making my own portfolio site.  I thought I’d create a list of things to both do and don’t do when making your online portfolio.

Contact Details - Do
There is no point in making a portfolio if people can't contact you about your work.  Create a way for other people to contact you.  Make a contact form, create some social media buttons, and include a resume.  While this may seem trendy, it is really a necessity.  However, you could argue that the social media icons aren't needed.  It really depends on the career you are striving for.

Code Your Own - Do
This might not apply to all portfolio work, but if you have the necessary skills to code your own portfolio, do so.  You’ll have a more accurate representation of your skills and it will be more personalized.  Plus, you’ll save money; themes can host anywhere from $10-100.  You will also save some interview embarrassment when they ask if you have the skills to make what your portfolio portrays.

Skill Bars – Don’t

Those skill bars might look cool, but they are not that useful.  I mean, they might give a general idea of what you are better at, but they are not measurable data.  If you’re 90% in Illustrator, you might be at a 30% skill level compared to another graphic designer.  Furthermore, you're making yourself look bad by stating you are a less-skilled in some areas.  Don't speak of your weaknesses.  Plus, everybody is using them.  The number one rule in portfolios is to stick out. This rule will creep up again in more of these tips.

Be Generic - Don't

The generic portfolio that is taking over the web

Don't follow trends when designing your portfolio website.  Just because everybody else is doing, doesn't mean you should be doing it.  And sometimes, the trend isn't exactly a good thing (looking back at skill bars).  Design your own logo, layout, and color palette.  Reach for the stars.  Inspire others.

Write About Yourself Using Way Too Many Adjectives - Don't
You say you're a 23 year old web designer who likes taking long walks on the beach, taking national geographic quality images of the birds at the park, drinking awesome beer, and making it known that you're a creative individual. Great! But who cares? Nobody.  You come off somebody that is really into themselves.  Let your portfolio and resume do the talking.  You'll have plenty of time to talk about yourself in an interview.

Blog - Do/Don't
If you are going to keep up with your blog and post at least once a week, then definitely keep the blog.  It will be a great addition to your resume and it will show that you are knowledgable about certain subjects. It will also give your portfolio a personal voice.

Don't display a blog if it is something you haven't updated in weeks.  It makes your site look like it has cobwebs on it and that you are inactive in your field.

And finally, a humorous example of what not to do:

The Worst Portfolio Ever

CSS Code Snippets

People love to save time.  It’s no surprise to find that developers enjoy saving time as well.  Mentioned in a previous blog post, developers are very particular about which code editor they use.  As we saw with Sublime Text 2, some editors have built in features that allow users to save time and code faster.  In this week’s post, we will go over another way in which people save time while working on projects: CSS code snippets.

CSS can be very basic; it’s a markup language.  In contrast to JavaScript, there is usually just one or two ways to make the document behave or look a certain way.  As a result, you can easily build something and share it with somebody.  CSS is very easy to tweak as well, so why not allow users to change up the code so that it suits their needs?

Some friendly and good-hearted developers have done just that.

Let’s say you want to quickly build a div that has a border radius.  If you’re like me, you still have trouble remembering the exact syntax to do so and looking up the documentation for it can be time consuming.  Instead of researching, try finding a tool for it.  In the border radius example, you can adjust the settings of the CSS to suit your needs.  We will go over a few websites that have these types of tools!

5 CSS Code Snippet Websites

CSS3Generator

The site provides 12 different tools including border radius, box shadow, multiple columns, transition, and transform.  One of the features that I really enjoy is the browser compatibility feature.  For each tool, the site will tell you which browsers the code is compatible with (including browser versions).

CCS Tricks

This site is a classic, fantastic resource.  The author, Chris Coyier, is well known in the developer community for his work on the site and his work with Codepen.  CSS Tricks provides a ton of snippets; some of which are more complex than CSS3Generator’s.  For example, he provides snippets for useful LESS Mixins.  He also provides snippets for other languages, so you can definitely spend a few hours here if you wanted to.

CSS Button Generator

HTML5’s button tag is nice and all, but it looks extremely plain.  This fancy little tool allows you to dress up buttons.  You can even create them with gradients and hover effects.

CSSFlow

This site provides some really nice looking results.  If you’ve got time, there are 11 full pages of code snippets ranging from toggle switches, buttons, tables, bars, etc.  A lot of it is really trendy looking as well.  The site also provides some nice looking UI kits.

Project Planning: Task Lists, Deliverables, Etc.

My graduate school program recently interviewed Kyle Schultz, the Creative Director at Dedo Inc. Dedo is a creative technology company that specializes in creating interactive installations to heighten the experience of a place or product.  Dedo is a small team, but they work with some pretty large companies.  Their deadlines can be very strict at times, but they produce these great projects time and time again.  

How do they do it? The answer is that they plan well.

Create Team Members

Like with any team, players are assigned certain roles.  For Dedo, a team may include graphic designers, developers, strategists, analyzers, and directors.  While the team is working on different parts of the project in their own specialties, the team is constantly in communication with each other.  Constant communication is key in producing a cohesive and realistic idea.

Task Lists

During the interview, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Dedo uses tasks lists for their projects.  I’ve been doing the same thing for a project I’ve been working on!  In my Interactive Media program at Elon University, students are required to produce a capstone project in order to graduate.  This project is supposed to be a representation of everything we have learned through Interactive Media.  My advisor  recommended that we use task lists in order to get ourselves on track.  These task lists can be created however you want, but each task is usually assigned a deadline. You can divide your work into stages or by category, but the main idea with task lists is that you do not want to be working on every aspect of the project at once - such as working on the design, development, and content all at once. 

Example Task List

Deliverables 

Another important aspect of task lists is the constant creation of deliverables.  Kyle explained how his team completes a lot of paper prototypes, wireframes, and eventually some high fidelity mockups through InvisionApp.  I was really stoked because my capstone advisor has encouraged us to do the same. I just recently completed all of the above for my capstone.

Creating deliverables is a great way to stay on track, but it also produces something that you can hand over to your client.  It is better to have feedback earlier than later in case you need to change something. Producing deliverables is just a great practice to pick up.

Paper Prototype

Write

Kyle also encouraged us to provide some written feedback after each task is completed.  For example, if a graphic designer just completed a logo mockup, he or she will complete a write up explaining if the logo worked and how they might improve it.  Kyle stressed the ability to talk about your own work.

Free Task List Template

If you want a nice task list template, here is the one I am using: Task List Template - Created by David Holland.  Custom it to your project.

Front End Development

Encourage your team to use task lists if they don't use them.  You can also use them if you are working solo.  As a front end developer, a majority of your work comes near the end of the project because people hand you content, but make sure to keep in touch with your team members; tell them if something isn't possible to make.  Make yourself produce deliverables, even if it is just for you. Make your own paper prototypes and wireframes.  Get your hands on as much of the project as possible.  Create deadlines and don’t let yourself get too behind.  I guarantee you will produce a better project in the end.