Dojo 1.0:Great Experiences...

For EveryoneAlex Russell

Project Lead, The Dojo Toolkit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

• Deficiency needs- Physiological- Saftety- Love/Belonging- Esteem

• Growth needs- Exploration, asthetics- Self-actualization

The Application Hierachy Of Needs

• Deficiency needs - Platform- Security- Social Capacity- Competition

• Growth Needs- Integration- Platform capacity

If The Platform Isn’t Ubiquitous And Capable,

Another Will Emerge

Changes In Cost Are Changes In Capacity

Complexity Is The New Dominating Factor In Cost

Where Are We Fighting Complexity?

• HTML• CSS• JavaScript• Server integration

http://flickr.com/photos/kidisland/502242023/The Wall Of Complexity

Implements Of War

• Grouping + Encapsulation• Shared Context• Patterns of Practice• Separation of Concerns• Forgiveness

So How Are We Doing?

Implements Of Failure

• Grouping + Encapsulation- Server-side includes essentially state of the art

• Shared Context- HTML/CSS/JS stack wickedly hard to learn

• Patterns of Practice- Microformats, CSS as emergent semantics

• Separation of Concerns• Forgiveness

- XML pipe dreams persist, Semantic Web faffery

Semantic Differences

• HTML gives us:- Platform- Some security- Social capacity- Patterns of practice- Shared context (common vocabulary)

• The failure to provide sustainable platform competition leaves us arguing over the scraps

Good Semantics Let You Say What You Mean

And Get What You Want

For Applications, HTML/CSS Are Liabilities

Ajax: The “Get Out Of Jail Free” Card

• Within a small band of capabilities, JavaScript allows us to dig our way out- Cost is enormous

• Toolkits have exhibited competition and platform capacity behaviors

• Integration nowhere to be seen- Example: mirrored validation- REST? Something else?

Platform Capacity Is The Ability To Grow New

Semantics

How The Web Gets New Semantics(decreasing order of leverage)

1.Standardization (W3C, ECMA, etc.)• Byproduct of competition

2.Invention• JavaScript “upgrades” or “hot-patches” to pages

3.Convention• Microformats, CSS patterns of practice

When Are You Going To Talk About Dojo?

Invention vs. Completeness

• Invented semantics via JS are disadvantaged:- On the wire- In performance and integration- In access to assistive technologies- In look-and-feel cohesiveness

• Only medium/large-scale investment yeild complete results today- Product vs. project

A Toolkit That Invents Semantics Is Responsible For

All Of These Concerns*

* this argument is both self-serving and disingenuous, however that doesn’t make it false

L&F Responsibility

<a href="images/depot.jpg"dojoType="dojox.image.Lightbox"group="myTravels"title="Photo of a Train Depot">A Train Depot</a>

<a href="images/greenville.jpg"dojoType="dojox.image.Lightbox"group="myTravels"title="A Photo of Greeneville, TN">Greenville</a>

Developer User Experience

/* structured CSS allows over-rides */.dijitDialogUnderlay {

background: white;}

// template system allows complete UI reworkdojo.extend(dojox.image._LightboxDialog, {

templatePath: dojo.moduleUrl(“myApp.tmpl”, “dialog.html”)});

Customization

a11y & i18n Concerns

• Incredibly robust keyboard handling code• All Dijit widgets fully WAI ARIA augmented

- role="wairole:dialog"- System support for easily adding role/state info

to your own widgets• Detection/support for high-contrast mode

- separate theme applied for high-contrast- structured CSS cascade allows you to easily

provide a11y rules for custom themes and widgets

Performance Responsiblity

• Time on the wire• Time-to-render• Data caching, storage• Encourage usage of faster paths through better

API design• “Pay-as-you-go” performance optimization

strategies- Make each step on the path as painless as

possible

Performance Responsiblity

• Stragegies:- Tiny Core

- Tightly controlled, curated APIs- CDN edge-cached, gzip always enabled- The Build Process

- Completely optional, gradual adoption- Package system reduces complexity through

grouping

You Can’t Tack These On Later,i.e., Systemization Matters

Dojo Expresses Platform Capacity

...But We Wish We Didn’t Have To

Our Collective Perception Of Where We Are On The

Hierarchy Is Wrong

The Lack Of Competition Is A Deficiency That Prevents Access To Growth Needs

You Should Be Demanding A Better Future From The People

Who Can Deliver It

Until Then, Toolkits Should Be Preparing For A Better

Future...

For Everyone

Build With, Not On