Serious Geek

I work with smart people everyday but the number of times I meet or hear about a real geek seem much more rare.

Here is a link from John Lam’s blog about Steve Yegge who ported Rails, yes as in Ruby on Rails, to JavaScript.  I work with JavaScript but can’t say I really enjoy it, this guy must love it to take on a project like this.

Steve works at Google and wanted to use Ruby on Rails, but Google is not a Ruby shop but they use JavaScript, so Steve decided to port Rails to JavaScript.  This is very cool, it would be interesting to see how well it works.

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  • http://invisibleblocks.wordpress.com/ Daniel Bernier

    Like many others, I’ve grown much fonder of JavaScript over the last two years. The prototype-based object model and first-class functions and closures confused me for a long time. Back in the day, I couldn’t find good docs to explain it all very well, and browser DOMs were all different.

    But lately, given its recent popularity (leading to better libraries and frameworks), better conversation about prototype OO and functional programming, and (of course) Ajax, it’s on the upswing.

  • http://invisibleblocks.wordpress.com/ Daniel Bernier

    Like many others, I’ve grown much fonder of JavaScript over the last two years. The prototype-based object model and first-class functions and closures confused me for a long time. Back in the day, I couldn’t find good docs to explain it all very well, and browser DOMs were all different.
    But lately, given its recent popularity (leading to better libraries and frameworks), better conversation about prototype OO and functional programming, and (of course) Ajax, it’s on the upswing.

  • http://rbazinet.wordpress.com/ Rob Bazinet

    Hey Dan,

    I have yet to get a Ruby on Rails Meetup to finally meet you. I will soon.

    I have had a JavaScript phobia and really have tried to stay away from it. I see libraries like Prototype and Scriptaculous are popular.

    Do you have a book or two you recommend? How about resources on OO with JavaScript and functional programming. Show me the way.

  • http://rbazinet.wordpress.com/ Rob Bazinet

    Hey Dan,
    I have yet to get a Ruby on Rails Meetup to finally meet you. I will soon.
    I have had a JavaScript phobia and really have tried to stay away from it. I see libraries like Prototype and Scriptaculous are popular.
    Do you have a book or two you recommend? How about resources on OO with JavaScript and functional programming. Show me the way.

  • http://invisibleblocks.wordpress.com/ Daniel Bernier

    The only JavaScript book I’ve had is Instant JavaScript, which I can’t really recommend. I’ve heard O’Reilly’s book is really good, but I’ve never checked it out.

    However, there are some excellent resources on the web:

    A (Re)-Introduction to JavaScript is great for once-burned-twice-shy ex-JavaScripters. It looks at the language itself, and its dynamic features (now that dynamic languages are becoming more popular).

    Amy Hoy’s Javascript Boot Camp Tutorial covers some of the same material, plus prototype inheritance, exceptions, and DOM hacking, then gets into Prototype, and debugging in FireFox.

    From DHTML to DOM scripting: “This article is aimed at developers who are new to JavaScript, or those who haven’t touched it in a while and wonder why people tell them off for using techniques that were the bee’s knees in 1999.”

    Metaprogramming JavaScript Presentation is a pretty cool article that shows off neat JavaScript tricks AND why you’d want to metaprogram.

    The only article I’ve written that I think could add to that bunch is Functional Programming in JavaScript and Ruby. It talks about map, fold, and filter, and implements them in JavaScript. The best part is the comments by people who really know about FP.

  • http://invisibleblocks.wordpress.com/ Daniel Bernier

    The only JavaScript book I’ve had is Instant JavaScript, which I can’t really recommend. I’ve heard O’Reilly’s book is really good, but I’ve never checked it out.
    However, there are some excellent resources on the web:
    A (Re)-Introduction to JavaScript is great for once-burned-twice-shy ex-JavaScripters. It looks at the language itself, and its dynamic features (now that dynamic languages are becoming more popular).
    Amy Hoy’s Javascript Boot Camp Tutorial covers some of the same material, plus prototype inheritance, exceptions, and DOM hacking, then gets into Prototype, and debugging in FireFox.
    From DHTML to DOM scripting: “This article is aimed at developers who are new to JavaScript, or those who haven’t touched it in a while and wonder why people tell them off for using techniques that were the bee’s knees in 1999.”
    Metaprogramming JavaScript Presentation is a pretty cool article that shows off neat JavaScript tricks AND why you’d want to metaprogram.
    The only article I’ve written that I think could add to that bunch is Functional Programming in JavaScript and Ruby. It talks about map, fold, and filter, and implements them in JavaScript. The best part is the comments by people who really know about FP.

  • http://rbazinet.wordpress.com/ Rob Bazinet

    Thanks Dan, great resources. I think these could be an article in itself.

    I want to hook up at a Ruby on Rails Meetup at Panera this month.

  • http://rbazinet.wordpress.com/ Rob Bazinet

    Thanks Dan, great resources. I think these could be an article in itself.
    I want to hook up at a Ruby on Rails Meetup at Panera this month.