OT: Scripting on websites [Was: Re: QtD 0.1 is out!]

[Nick Sabalausky]

"grauzone" <none at example.net> wrote in message 
news:gmgjou$1af5$1 at digitalmars.com...
>> But... why Javascript hurts you that much? What did it do to you?
>

> Another example is Candydoc. That tree on the left is awful JavaScript 
> hackery. It only works if JS is enabled, and even then it is slow, 
> annoying to use, and all that. Candydoc advertises itself as "Produced 
> result is AJAX web-application that is compatible with all mainstream web 
> browsers." Without AJAX, the authot of Candydoc would have done a much 
> better job. Now isn't that typical?
>
> (By the way, AJAX for offline browsable documentation? What?)

Yes, yes, yes, exactly! A couple more examples of API docs that are 
barely-usable (ie, painful sluggishness, lack of offline viewing, and 
general bugginess) thanks to AJAX: MSDN Library and Adobe LiveDocs.

>
> When you vote, they show an animation, which alpha blends from one display 
> state into another. Wheee, great. In the old days, you had to wait for the 
> slow GUI to respond. Today, you wait for the GUI animation to finish. Both 
> introduce a small but annoying delay.
>

Yes, yes, yes, exactly! DVD menus do it too, and the blatant lack of thought 
that goes into such a design always irritates me. "I don't want to [watch | 
listen to] some cute little [transition | movie quote | film clip], I just 
want to [watch the movie | select a scene | setup audio options | view 
extras]."

Most people, like myself, who have spent time in game programming 
(particularly old-school style games) learn very quickly that interactive 
interfaces need to have response times of no more than about 100ms max 
(preferably less) and transition times of no more than about 250ms 
(preferably less) for the user to really feel "in control". That's *not* 
much time, and far less time than many modern interface designers (games or 
otherwise) are comfortable restricting themselves to these days. I think 
part of the problem is that artists and graphic designers are usually hired 
for these jobs instead of actual interactive interface designers (because 
when most managers think "user interface" they just think of the visual 
side, and sometimes audio too, but they don't know that there are also 
temporal and usability concerns).

> And not to forgot, when some dirty piece of AJAX JavaScript code runs 
> wild. Then it will send HTTP requests in a loop, even though the page 
> finished loading. Good that we have Noscript to trash the AJAX 
> programmer's worthless effort.
>
> Sometimes I love new technology.

I have a certain viewpoint on that:

AIUI, The strict definition of "technology" is the application of science to 
improve the quality of life. As such, there are many things that people 
consider to be "technologies" that I insist aren't technologies because they 
only satisfy the "application of science" part and not the "improve the 
quality of life" part. (A related pet peeve I have when dealing with laymen: 
"Technology" does not necessarily imply "electronics". Heck, even indoor 
plumbing is a technology...and one of my personal favorites ;) )