Node.js is genuinely exciting

Simon discusses a server-side JavaScript Web server that promises to be significantly faster than Apache because of its event-driven approach.

Pity Simon didn't mention his "Defeating server-side programmers at their own game" title he used at Full Frontal. Beyond the obvious technical advantages Node.js will allow Web development to take over the server, too.

Server side | Permalink

Roundup on Parallel Connections

Steve Souders discusses the recent upgrade of the number of concurrent HTTP connections in IE8. Good or bad? He tends toward Good.

Server side | Permalink

In Which I Think About Java Again, But Only For A Moment

Intriguing piece. Officially it's about why Java applet interfaces "look like a Soviet tractor built on a Monday." Be this true or not (I tend to agree), the real treat is in the three point approach to creating UIs that is mentioned later:

1. You need to lay out the user interface components visually, by hand, with total control over where they go. [...]
2. You need to be able to change the UI around really easily during development [...] even after you’ve attached a lot of code to it. That means no [...] tools that write code for you, because once their code mingles with your code, it gets hard to disentangle.
3. Changing the UI around also requires being able to change your own UI code easily. As the Ruby and Agile Programming zealots always point out, strict type checking can really get in the way of this. [...]

Isn't this a perfect description of how we create websites? We must be doing something right.

(Via Simon.)

Server side, Usability | Permalink

Turning on server-side includes on Mac OS X

Far more complicated than necessary, and I don't understand why they aren't enabled by default.
Anyway, if anyone needs it, here's what you need to know.

Server side | Permalink

Pagerank Explained Correctly with Examples

Useful overview of how Google's Page Rank works.

Server side | Permalink