Babel & Boats at the Beach

A rather quick talk by Seph Coster / @sephcoster

JSConf Background

  • Focus on Social Interaction / Engagement
  • Blend of Experienced and New Speakers
  • Three Tracks: Keynote, Attendee Speakers, and Training
  • 7 years old, launched Node.JS at JSConf.eu, React, etc
  • Three Days of Talks
    • Day 1: Talks 9-7
    • Day 2: Activities (Bots, Boats, Copters, Rockets, Golf, etc)
    • Day 3: Talks 9-7
  • Lots of chances to engage, talk, and network

 

Bottom Line: ++ Would Go Again.

Time to JS.

Learnings

beach

Reactive Frameworks are Rad

  • LOTS of talks involving React and Virtual DOMS
  • ZERO talks mentioning / using AngularJS
  • Tungsten.JS Framework modular reactive framework launched
  • Virtual DOM, performance, and ES6 baked-in at compile time are huge differentiators for the community
  • New Frameworks including Paperclip.js and Ember Glimmer pre-renders discussed
  • If DOM your key, try out DBMonster to Test

 

 

Accessibility is Awesome

  • Don't forget about a huge portion of your users - make your app work for all
  • Hearing, Sight & Physical issues + More
  • New automated tools are available to bake into your test suites
    • a11y automated suite (based on Chrome Dev Tools)
    • Tenon API
    • tota11y Browser Plugin from Kahn Academy
  • ARIA Tags work for JS transitions and can call out entry / exit of elements
  • If you're not using these tests for your apps, you should be.

Simon Swain is a badass.

Simon built that Cold War Simulator

  • He flew from Australia to present
  • He renders thousands of DOM elements and animates them using Canvas in an epic project
  • His presentation style was compelling, interesting, and should be emulated
  • Watch the video when it comes out

(math == art && art == code)

  • Talk given by @thisisjohnbrown
  • Experimentation with Code is often how you learn the most
  • Side projects, hacks, etc are the way you dig deep into figuring out how things work
  • You should try out some art. He gave homework! Try it!
  • Homework: Make something with Uncontext

Sometimes Web + Native is Best Solution

  • Talk by @k88hudson (Kate Hudson)
  • Easy to create Android Top Level Header with Web View
  • Web layer then has access to native Java APIs and can pass strings(!!)
  • We need to keep thinking of creative ways to make native / web work better
  • "Really good engineering is finding adequate solutions to problems that matter"

Vagrant and Development Boxes

  • @GordTanner
  • Critical to get new team members up and running FAST - it's the measure of your organization
  • Use Vagrant liberally
  • Don't make users SSH into the box - issue commands from Bash using --command and the $* operator
  • Try adding NFS for better file performance
  • Script all the things including pre-check updates
  • Auto-reload for Grunt. Just do it.

ES6 And Beyond

  • It's time to start writing and learning in ES6
  • Babel is a great way to transpile to ES5 and do that
  • @sebmck (creator of Babel) presented
  • "Babel does great things, but it's not a substitute for understanding the language / trade-offs"
  • Not everything in ES6 Works Well in ES5. Know when to use it.
  • @ag_dubs - JS Community needs to think about why their language has taken off, and keep learning at the heart of the language in future

ES7 Improvements

  • @naveedi from Mozilla Engineering
  • ES7 Bringing Shared Memory between web / native
  • Huge improvements in WebGL, etc possible with multiple cores
  • Insane graphics performance in his demo
  • Unreal Engine in the Browser, etc
  • ES7 Brings us closer to native performance

New Frameworks and Tools to Check Out

  • KNEX.js / Bookshelf.JS Node Frameworks
  • a11y / Google Chrome A11y Tools
  • Paperclip.js / Tungsten.JS
  • Polymer
  • Relay (React / Flux GraphQL Addon)
  • Johnny Five (not new, but AWESOME
  • BitHound.io Static Code Inspector

Hardware... is Amazing

Node Boats

  • Hardware: Spark Core w/ Wifi
  • Servos, Motors, and Wires
  • Johnny Five Node-based System
  • We built a boat, and Control Software

Why Hardware Was Unexpectedly Great

  • Great chance to hack together with people you don't know and form a great bond
  • Solve problems in new and different ways
  • Learn JavaScript from another viewpoint / perspective
  • Create Atoms.
  • That feeling when you get your Arduino to "Breath" for the first time

In Conclusion:

  • Great Conference.
  • Learned a lot and met great people (including potential recruits and business leads!)
  • Conference + Meals Together + Beach = My favorite.

THE END

BY Seph Coster / github.com/sephcoster