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APIs that will transform the Web in 2013

blog.alexmaccaw.com

81–90 of 108 posts

Re: APIs that will transform the Web in 2013

#81

web components are still very flawed, they completely ignore a slew of problems, and still promote tons of global variables which is just a major no no. Some of the features that come along with the web component spec are fantastic, but the way they're doing it is quite wrong IMO, and it cant really be done right from a browser point of view really, the bulk of this should still be user-land, I find it a little scary…

Agreed. It's frightening to see people embrace web components while completely ignoring the usability issues, and adopting the attitude of "develop first, think about API design later."

The folks behind web components are super open to feedback. I'd be happy to introduce you so you can provide some feedback on where the spec should go to better address the pain points you have.

Re: APIs that will transform the Web in 2013

#82
post #61

1. First I heard about GLSL custom CSS filters. Is this on track to being standardized? I suspect Microsoft would never support it, for example. 2. Chrome Apps? What does that have to do with the web? It's a Chrome thing, not a web thing (those apps don't run anywhere else). I guess the author is a Chrome fan based on the end of the article though so that figures. 3. No WebRTC, and no WebGL? Perhaps ironic I mention…

To answer (1): http://www.w3.org/TR/filter-effects/ I don't really see them making a large impact in 2013, but we may see them on by default in a shipping browser...we'll see. Working group(s) discussion has been happening for quite a while now, though. Microsoft has indeed already stated that they would prefer not to specify the particular shading language that needs to be used. There was quite a long discussion on…

Thanks for the link, very interesting stuff.

Re: APIs that will transform the Web in 2013

#83

CSS filters are already in Chrome and Safari, and allow advanced styling as as blurring, warping and modifying the color intensities of elements. Isn't it funny that the first browser to implement these "filters" was IE 4.0 [1]. And at that time using any of these filters was a bit frowned upon and amateurish. Now suddenly everyone is gung-ho about it and calling it the API that will transform the web in 2013. [1] ht…

Except IE's filters were an unrelated proprietary technology with an ugly syntax: filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Blur(pixelradius=2); compared to filter: blur(2px);

GLSL isn't exactly beautiful all the time...

Re: APIs that will transform the Web in 2013

#84
I'm a web developer, but keeping with these seems like a cat-laser scenario.

These APIs change every day, and knowing about them before they are usable in the wild feels like a waste of time and brain space.

Anybody feels the same way too?

Re: APIs that will transform the Web in 2013

#85
post #61

1. First I heard about GLSL custom CSS filters. Is this on track to being standardized? I suspect Microsoft would never support it, for example. 2. Chrome Apps? What does that have to do with the web? It's a Chrome thing, not a web thing (those apps don't run anywhere else). I guess the author is a Chrome fan based on the end of the article though so that figures. 3. No WebRTC, and no WebGL? Perhaps ironic I mention…

Amen to #2. Who gives a shit about features of a single browser? That isn't going to "transform the Web." If those features became widespread, it would represent a major regression.

And CSS gimmicks like blurs and warps are just more sad lipstick on the pig that is HTML. The Web needs an entirely new presentation language, not more band-aids on what has become a laughable hack.

Re: APIs that will transform the Web in 2013

#86
post #84

I'm a web developer, but keeping with these seems like a cat-laser scenario. These APIs change every day, and knowing about them before they are usable in the wild feels like a waste of time and brain space. Anybody feels the same way too?

Hopefully with Chrome and Firefox auto-upgrading in the background, browser compatibility will become less and less of an issue. Also, most of those APIs are decorative (like CSS filters) and shouldn't entirely destroy the experience for browsers that don't support them (it just won't look as good).

Re: APIs that will transform the Web in 2013

#87
post #17

None of this will work in IE7, IE8, IE9 or IE10. This will transform absolutely nothing on the web for many years to come. I can understand people getting hyped up about cool new tech like this, but the article has way too much hyperbole to take any of it seriously.

This isn't 2005 anymore, IE is becoming rapidly less relevant as time goes on. Other desktop browsers have been gaining marketshare and the most popular mobile devices do not use IE. Currently, IE marketshare is on a half-life of about 3.5 years, in another few years IE may even become inconsequential. In the meantime I think IE has lost its ability to prevent advancement of web technology merely by lagging on adopti…

Unless you have customers requiring the same web site works the same way in IE as well.

Re: APIs that will transform the Web in 2013

#88

CSS filters are already in Chrome and Safari, and allow advanced styling as as blurring, warping and modifying the color intensities of elements. Isn't it funny that the first browser to implement these "filters" was IE 4.0 [1]. And at that time using any of these filters was a bit frowned upon and amateurish. Now suddenly everyone is gung-ho about it and calling it the API that will transform the web in 2013. [1] ht…

Except IE's filters were an unrelated proprietary technology with an ugly syntax: filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Blur(pixelradius=2); compared to filter: blur(2px);

You can always write this in IE.

    filter: Blur(pixelradius=2);

Re: APIs that will transform the Web in 2013

#89
post #64

CSS filters are already in Chrome and Safari, and allow advanced styling as as blurring, warping and modifying the color intensities of elements. Isn't it funny that the first browser to implement these "filters" was IE 4.0 [1]. And at that time using any of these filters was a bit frowned upon and amateurish. Now suddenly everyone is gung-ho about it and calling it the API that will transform the web in 2013. [1] ht…

And IE10 got rid of them: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2012/06/04/legacy-dx-filt...

IE7 got rid of DirectAnimation, which is basically DirectX in IE, since IE4.

And now there's WebGL.

And other features like

- DirectMusic (MIDI support)

- VRML (which is basically SVG)

- dHTML+TIME (animiation support)

- page transition effects

- render doc/ppt/xls in html

- .htc as web components

Re: APIs that will transform the Web in 2013

#90
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Write the code in ES6 and compile it to ES5, then use Modernizer or some equivalent to detect which runtime is supported by the client's browser and serve the appropriate script.

Or just ignore IE8 and assume the "revenue loss" from anyone running that browser not being able to navigate your site is worth the loss of headache. I always wonder why it is an assumption IE support is mandatory. As others in this thread have pointed out, Chrome / FF now have a combined 700 million and I'd assume between 50 - 70% of the browser marketshare. At some point, using backwards broken nonsense to support…

It's because IE combined versions has around 50% market share.
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