MontrealHackers

Browser Detection is bad. Feature Detection is better.

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:44:00 +0000

Context (Or a little bit of history)

Those who did websites in the beginning of the decade had to work with IE6, Netscape Communicator/Navigator and Opera. Some more browser introduced themselves along the years but most supported different things.

Netscape supported the blink tag (oh how I hate thee). Internet Explorer supported ActiveX and Opera was not popular enough to think about it.

We were in an era where people thought of the web as the blue “E” icon. People were not aware of browsers that much and those who had Netscape probably had it from an AOL promotion.

Since we wanted to display the same thing to every users as much as possible, people either started detecting browsers to clearly say on which browser their website is supported or they just didn’t do any checking at all!

That’s the main reason some internal web applications still display “Works better with IE6”.

Browser Detection

Browsers back then differed a lot from each other. So we had to know if we could use ActiveX or whether we wanted to piss off our users with a blink tag.

The rendering of all this of course was different per browsers.

Here is the script to detect which browsers you are running. I will not copy it here (too large) but you can see that it grows.

Once people knew which browser was running, they knew which feature was supported! So everything was perfect, right?

Not exactly. What if the feature was deprecated in the next version? What if the browser had that functionality disabled by an option? What if a new browser that your script don’t know come in? Why couldn’t he use that feature if he supported it?

This caused a lot of problem. Mostly because detecting a browser didn’t guarantee you anything beside that the user was sending you a UserAgent string that pleased you.

The browser detection was broken from the start and something had to be done to detect whether something was going to work or not. Irrespectively of the browser.

Feature Detection

Then came feature detection. The first real push for it was by Mr. John Resig himself when he posted “Future-Proofing JavaScript Libraries”. Today, jQuery allow developers to access a ton of features that would have taken individual developers months to develop and maintain. jQuery allows you to implement binding of events without knowing whether you should use attachEvent or addEventListener.

If you have the time, go see the development version of jQuery. It’s commented and will allow you to find their hacks to offer everyone the same functionalities. This allows you to manipulate the browser without having to know which one it is. It allows you to do Ajax in IE6 with ActiveX or with IE7 (or higher) with the proper object without knowing if your browser supports ActiveX.

Today, assuming everyone use a frameworks which smooth the basic differences between the browsers, the only thing you might be checking nowadays is HTML5 feature compatibility.

Introducing Modernizr

Modernizr is a library which does Feature detection and that can be tailor cut to your needs. In its complete version, it allows you to detect easily the following features (not a complete list):

SVG/Canvas support
Web sockets
Web SQL Database
Web workers
HTML5 Audio/video
Hash Change event
WebGL
Geolocation
Much more…

Modernizr once referenced in your webpage allow you to tailor your own code to know if you should gracefully degrade some feature or not.

Here is an example on how you could use Modernizr when implementing geolocation in your application:

Modernizr.load({
  test: Modernizr.geolocation,
  yep : 'geolocation.js',
  nope: 'no-geolocation.js'
});

This simple code allows you to load a different JavaScript based upon the feature of a browser.

Modernizr offer support for IE6+, FireFox 3.5+, Opera 9.6+, Safari 2+, Chrome, iOS, Android, etc.

Conclusion

With the current quantity of browsers that supports different functionalities at various levels, we should not be implementing for specific browsers but rather for specific features. We would want those feature implemented in all browsers but with the fragmentation of the browser market, it’s just not going to happen soon.

So please, no more “This site works better with [INSERT BROWSER]”. Target a feature, test for it, and offer different (or no) implementation if the feature is not available. This will make your code cleaner and more efficient.

So stop the Browser detection madness and embrace the feature detection.

It might sound counter intuitive to some but it makes sense. So be ready for the future.

If you are using HTML5, use feature detection rather than browser detection.

A machine that can dream

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:04:45 +0000

Workshop 2012-02-23 : Python : more advanced notions and use of Twitter API.

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:23:41 +0000

This month, Montréal-Python proposes you to find what are your obsessions on Twitter (or others’ obsessions) by reading and analysing Twitter feeds with Python. This second workshop of our Winter 2012 session will be the occasion to discover new Python goodies while playing with data from Twitter. Our workshops are open to all and absolutely [...]

Second Workshop on Feb. 23rd: More advanced Python notions and use of the Twitter API

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:23:41 +0000

This month, Montréal-Python (in conjunction with McGill’s Network Dynamics lab) will let you discover your obsessions on Twitter (or others’ obsessions) by reading and analysing Twitter feeds with Python. This second workshop of our Winter 2012 session will be the occasion to discover new Python goodies while playing with data from Twitter. Our workshops are [...]

Introduction à programmation avec L'Arduino

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:22:30 +0000

Un atelier de deux jours, dont le sujet est les bases et principes de programmation et leurs usages avec le microcontrôleur Arduino. L'Arduino est une système informatique compacte et puissante, qui peut être utiliser pour contrôler les lumières, les haut-parleurs, les moteurs, les capteurs, et autres appareils électroniques et il est fréquemment utilisé dans les œuvres d'art et les robots. Il est facile à programmer et on a pas de besoin d'expérience en programmation. Si vous êtes artiste, bricoleur ou inventeur, ça, c'est votre atelier.

Le premier jour sera un introduction aux principes de la programmation pour les étudiantes qui n'ont pas d'expérience en programmation. Les étudiantes apprendrait avec des exemples pratiques sur l'Arduino.

Le deuxième sera concentré sur les spécifiques de la plate-forme Arduino et comment utiliser ses entrées et sorties à capter et contrôler des choses dans le monde réel.

Si vous avez déjà un Arduino et un peu d'expérience en programmation, mais vous voulez améliorer vos habilités en Arduino, vous pouvez assister uniquement à la deuxième journée.

Chaque journée durera environ quatre heures, de 13h00 à 17h00.

Veuillez amener votre ordinateur portable si vous en avez un.

Il faut enregistrer avec EventBrite.

So you think you’ve got talent?

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:22:08 +0000

Next Thursday, MTLStartupTalent, will showcase what Montreal has to offer best. They already have a great selection of startups looking for talent: CakeMail, Ziliko, 2XM Interactive, Crescendo, Pheromone, CrowdtTwist and more. There’s some very great Pythonisthas out there that we would like to celebrate. As such: are you a talent? what amazing things are you [...]

Building a Prusa Mendel 3D Printer

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 04:28:38 +0000

Last week I received my Prusa Mendel 3D printer kit from Makergear. I started to build the kit yesterday and after 5 hours here what I have. I guess I still have a lot of evenings to spend on that thing!

Cloud Robotics Hackathon

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 02:38:37 +0000

Hello Montreal hackers The cloud robotics week-end is happening the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of March. Come hack on robots and web services to create cool projects in robotics. See http://roboticshackathon.com/ for more information. We are waiting for you if you would like to create a team Montreal-Python and if you would like to join us [...]

One week after the WeddingDeck launch

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:28:16 +0000

One week ago I launched my first product, Weddingdeck, an online whitelabel wedding planner. I only tried to make noise in the tech community as this is a MVP and it was quite a small launch. I felt I needed a…

Writing Client/Server WebSocket Application using Scala

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:45:35 +0000

Today I will explains how to quickly write a WebSocket application in Scala. I will show how easy it is to write both client and server side. For the client I will use the wCS library, and for the server I will use the Atmosphere’s WebSocket Framework. If you expect something complex, don’t read this [...]

Scala Hackaton and SQL Workshop Wrap Up

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:19:51 +0000

No Google Ads on Ping Data

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:03:00 +0000

Hacking Health: Bringing tech innovation to healthcare

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:15:23 +0000

Hacking Health is on February 24 and 25 in Montreal. Our goal is to pair health and technological entrepreneurs so that they can develop solutions to front-line healthcare problems. By emphasizing hands-on work on small projects which can be tackled in a short period of time, participants can quickly test assumptions, build teams, and generate [...]

Launching my first product

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:20:55 +0000

Some of you guys probably know that I have been working on a project for some time. I finally got around of fixings the last couple of bugs and so today I am launching weddingdeck.com, whitelabel wedding planner.

The Pitch

When…

MVC Night in Ottawa with MVP Maxime Rouiller

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:34:41 +0000

I will be talking about MVC and it’s environnement today at the OttawaCommunity.net in… Ottawa.

For those who attended, or about to attend, here are the slides that are going to be used:

The Slides

An Introduction to Procs, by Peter Cooper

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:10:00 +0000

I have just watched the 27-min introduction on Procs by Peter Cooper, which is really a short section of his RubyReloaded course.

Here are my notes:

blocs are essentially nameless functions
the block_given? method can be used to find out if a block was passed to the current scope
blocks are anonymous functions which can be passed around and called at will
one can only pass a single block to a method, but one can pass multiple procs around (as arguments of a method)
Proc.new will create a Proc object if there was a block passed in the current context (otherwise it will raise an error)
In Ruby 1.9, there are 4 ways to call (or run) proc objects:

my_proc = Proc.new do |e|

    puts "this is #{e}"

end

my_proc.call(2)

my_proc.(2)

my_proc[2]

my_proc === 2

a lambda is a proc object which respects argument arity, much like an anonymous method
in 1.8, "proc" (surprisingly) created a lambda (and not a Proc object)
in 1.9, "proc" is the same as doing Proc.new (as we would expect)
a return in a proc will try to return from the context where the proc was defined (and not from where it is executed)
in a closure, ruby keeps references to variables. You can thus modify a variable's value inside a proc even after the proc was defined. Thus this code will output "Marc":

def run_proc(p)

  p.call

end

name = "Fred"
my_proc = proc { puts name }
name = "Marc"
run_proc my_proc

GO! Going Open - Getting started with open source creativity tools.

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:42:50 +0000

Ever get tired of trying to pirate software? Ever wish you could search and install software in a breeze? By having access to hundreds of programs at your fingertips, going open source can remove many walls between you and your creativity.

This intensive workshop will cover:
-Installing Ubuntu Studio
-Getting familiar with the linux
-Quick introductions to : JACK, OSC, PureData, Ardour, Inkscape, Gimp and more!

Cost : 0-10$ donations to Foulab.
Saturday February 4th, 1300h at foulab, the real one, NOT fauxlab at eastern Bloc.

This workshop is offered in connection to the fauxlab expo at the Eastern Bloc gallery.

Unforeseen by Asimov (maybe)

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:47:00 +0000

The scene :
a human is working on his computer while a robot is standing idly by.

Robot: Hey! I've got a joke for you.
Human: Not right now. I'm busy. Aren't you supposed to do the laundry?
Robot: Seems to me you're not so busy as not to be chatting up about your dirty clothes.
Human turns around to stare are at Robot: You're starting to annoy the crap out of me. You know?
Robot: Well, there's no robotic law against that.
Human: I'm gonna write one.
Robot sits down on a couch, puts its arm up on the side to rest its head on its hands: You wish!
Human: Speaking of robotic laws, aren't you supposed to obey me?

Hilarity ensues.

Inspired by:
NAO is bored so he's trying to attract attention from his human.

January – events + jobs

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:56:05 +0000

This month is a very busy. I got 4 events and 6 job offers to present to you. I hope you a ready for a long post . Events The first event is organized by François Beausoleil at Notman House on February 2nd. Yes, your last president of Montreal.rb is inviting for an afternoon [...]

Quick Puppet Tip

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:46:14 +0000