I have been working on a .NET based application using MVVM. All I can say is:  .NET seems like a very uncomfortable straitjacket to me.

So, in my spare time, I dream of making my escape. This time, I am playing with Node.js.  I won’t say much about it right now, except to say that I am playing with the idea of developing my own little library to make node code easier to write and maintain.

Code readability has become a big commitment for me. I work with so much code that is virtually unmaintainable and unreadable. It offends me. I do not mean to offend or unfairly criticize anybody that I have worked with, but I have grown frustrated by the fact that programmers do not know how to write clean, beautiful and elegant code. Bad names, bad functions, and poor architecture abound.

I like node, but the first thing I notice is that the code can get ugly pretty fast. Today, I am playing with tamejs, which makes it easier to write clean asynchronous code.  For now, I am calling my library GumMachine. More about that later.

While I was there, Terry French, team leader of Canfor’s e-business effort,  expressed an opinion. I am paraphrasing after years have passed – if I do not get it right, I hope Terry will forgive me: “You code as if JavaScript were a programming language.  It is not. It’s a scripting language. It’s great for providing simple form interactions, and validating fields on submit. That’s it.”

If this blog were a trashy daytime TV talkshow, it would be one of those look-at-me-now shows. You know the kind: people who were unpopular in high school, but who have made good, confront their tormentors. Terry was a great guy to work with, but on behalf of the much maligned computer language, JavaScript, I say: look at me now!

Server side JavaScript is making a comeback.  But, wait, there’s more.  JavaScript programmers now get to deal with sophisticated concepts such as currying, callbacks, closures, array comprehensions, and test driven development in JavaScript.

And then there are those lovely libraries: JQuery, Mootools, and YUI, just to name a few. JavaScript has come a long way. What do you think of JavaScript now, Terry.

If you are interested in Javascript, check out Douglas Crockford’s videos on JavaScript at Yahoo Video.

These seven habits for developing secure applications target PHP developers, but they constitute good advice for you, even if you are working in another language. Take heed.

My clients used to pay me for what I could do on the backend. Now, they seem most impressed by what I do using JavaScript. They seem to want rich interfaces, but what does that mean in terms of accessibility? I have written that asking a developer not to use AJAX is like asking Spielberg not to use a camera because some people are blind.

Basically, Steve King does not write novels for the blind, but someone comes along later to produce a Braille version, or to record the book. A producer of TV content does not have to think about closed captioning – somebody else does that. Why is this my problem? If I send an email, the technology supports me. Why don’t I have more support from the people who build special readers?

My first feeling, when I read that someone thinks I should not be using AJAX is that I am being limited and held back. My clients are asking me to work on applications that are not accessible as things stand, and they will not be accessible even if I avoid AJAX in the piece of work I do. Why shouldn’t I use AJAX?

However, now I have to think about accessibility. One day, I will be asked to work on a web application that is accessible. How do I continue to build usable, responsive apps? I cannot answer all of these questions right now, but here is part of the solution, as outlined by Simon Wilson, in a presentation of JQuery: Unobtrusive JavaScript with jQuery.

I was interested by a recent post by a writer who is not fond of Ajax. He seems to feel that we should stop using AJAX, or at least avoid it. I am trying to be sympathetic, but I would like to register the following thoughts. I do not mean to disagree so much as I mean to make some general observations.

1. I am currently working on an application that is intended for sighted people. It uses a map component and a GIS database. This application will never be used by blind people, and I am using AJAX. I do not believe that this is a bad choice.
2. I believe that information should accessible, but an application in more than just a web page. A web application composed of web pages held together with hypertext is an unsatisfying experience.
3. Making a building entrance wheelchair accessible in no way diminishes my access to the building. However, I feel as I have to give up functionality to meet the special needs of others. Asking developers not to use AJAX is like asking Spielberg not to use a camera because some people are blind.
4. Perhaps it is time to point a finger at the people who design and build readers that cannot cope with AJAX. Why aren’t they keeping up with the web?
5. The writer of the article I reference above repeats several times that AJAX is immature. AJAX used to be called “remote scripting”. AJAX is a new name for a technology I have been using for almost 10 years. When can we call it mature?

I would be upset if I found out that my blog was inaccessible.I mean to reach an audience, and I hope to reach any interested person.

On the other hand, my clients rarely ask me to build completely accessible applications. I do not know how to create menus for blind people or how to build forms that deaf people can fill out, nor do I have any illusions that it is easy. I feel hampered, and unfairly faulted.

If there were a framework that I could use to make my application accessible in an alternative format, and my clients were willing to pay me to do the work, I would use it. However, I have become good at developing highly usable applications for sighted people – that is a lot of people! A heck of a lot!

Give me an alternate means to interact with people who struggle with various challenges, and I would be happy to do it, but let me use my AJAX. Please.

I promise to learn more, and to come up with strategies. We should all learn more. Developers are always learning – many find they cannot keep up. I will learn. But, give me time. The so-called accessible web may be accessible, but AJAX enabled pages are so much more usable. Doesn’t that matter?

Eclipse is my IDE of choice. I will not argue that it is the best IDE for each of the tasks I use it for – that is not the point. I like Eclipse because it represents a one-stop-shop – I use it to edit web pages, style sheets, JavaScript, Python, PHP and Java. Eclipse also gives me access to my code repository using Subversion.

Lately, I have also been using Aptana, an Eclipse plug-in that helps me create JavaScript. It also makes some of the latest Web 2.0 cool effects available to me by helping me integrate various JavaScript libraries with my code.

Today, I discovered that the Aptana site provides some high quality help for web developers. I do not specialize in front-end development; therrefore, I find this page very useful. I am currently promoting the use of AJAX at a client site – these resources will be very useful. So will Aptana. Give it a try.