jQuery’s $(document).ready() event is something that you probably learned about in your earliest exposure to jQuery and then rarely thought about again. The way it abstracts away DOM timing issues is like a warm security blanket for code running in a variety of cold, harsh browser windows.

Between that comforting insurance and the fact that deferring everything until $(document).ready() will never break your code, it’s understandable not to give much thought to its necessity. Wrapping $(document).ready() around initialization code becomes more habit than conscious decision.

However, what if $(document).ready() is slowing you down? In this post, I’m going show you specific instances where postponing startup code until the document’s ready event slows perceived page load time, could leave your UI needlessly unresponsive, and even causes initialization code to run slower than necessary.

Click here to read the rest of this post »

I recently encountered what appeared to be a cross-browser issue with jQuery, which was both surprising and frustrating. After all, eliminating those cross-browser inconsistencies is no small part of jQuery’s fundamental appeal.

After some investigation, the source of the trouble actually stemmed from an oversight on my part. I doubt that many of you will have to deal with exactly the same situation, but the lessons I learned may apply to cross-browser jQuery problems you encounter in the future.

Click here to read the rest of this post »

I spent some quality time with Dave Reed’s latest revision of John Resig’s jQuery.tmpl plugin recently, migrating a small project from jTemplates. Since both the jQuery team and Microsoft team have requested feedback on jQuery.tmpl, I decided to write about my experience using it (as I am wont to do with these templating proposals).

Overall, jQuery.tmpl is a great step in the right direction. It’s small, it’s simple, and it’s fast. Overloading append() to allow the append(Template, Data) syntax is phenomenal. That approach feels more like idiomatic jQuery than anything else I’ve used, including jTemplates.

However, if this template rendering engine is going to succeed broadly, I feel there’s one important feature still missing. Additionally, there are a couple ancillary features that are present in the current proposal, but should be protected.

Click here to read the rest of this post »

Most of us get our first taste of jQuery by implementing a simple animation effect or using a plugin for a specific purpose. This is natural because, like JavaScript itself, jQuery lends itself to beginning with the basics and building from there.

As you branch out from the trivial and begin using jQuery for more complex solutions, it’s important that you stay vigilant for new ways to approach those more involved problems. What works well enough for a dozen lines of code may not work for hundreds, and the unforgiving cross-platform environment that comes along with developing for web browsers only magnifies any trouble you run into.

With that in mind, I want to share a few tips with you that I found valuable as my work with jQuery became more complex.

Click here to read the rest of this post »

If you’ve already begun using Microsoft’s new Ajax Script Loader with a CDN-hosted version of jQuery, today’s release of jQuery 1.4 may have left you wondering how to upgrade. Personally, I didn’t want to wait on a new version of Start.js, nor did I want to abandon the script loader now that I’ve become accustomed to its benefits.

No doubt, an upcoming ASP.NET Ajax Library iteration will update Start.js’ jQuery definition to reference jQuery 1.4.x. Regardless, knowing how to patch the script loader on your own terms is something that will be of recurring usefulness.

Luckily, the script loader is open and extensible enough that it’s possible to change which script versions are used. So, I want to briefly show you how the script loader defines JavaScript includes and how you can patch those definitions without modifying Start.js itself.

Click here to read the rest of this post »

If you haven’t been following the progress of Rob Conery and James Avery’s new venture, TekPub, you’ve been missing out on some great instructional videos. I especially like that they trend slightly Alt.NET, giving you more balanced information than is sometimes available from “official” .NET screencasts.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been working with James to record a series of episodes for TekPub myself: Mastering jQuery.

Mastering jQuery walks through the basics of using jQuery, the revolutionary JavaScript framework that makes writing client-side code fun and easy, and then dives into the details of writing AJAX enabled ASP.NET MVC and ASP.NET Web Forms applications. We will also cover popular plugins and extending jQuery in future episodes.

Today, the first video in that series is available: Getting Started with jQuery.

In this episode we cover the basics of getting started with jQuery. We start with a basic HTML page and show how to include jQuery, how to write your first code, and explain all of the moving pieces and how they work.

If you’ve been following my site and working with jQuery already, the first episode may sound elementary, but there’s going to be something for everyone before the series is finished. By the third episode, we’re already into topics like making AJAX calls to MVC controller actions and progressively enhancing an entry form with the jQuery form plugin.

I hope you’ll head over to TekPub, and have a look for yourself.

In my most recent post, I demonstrated a workaround to allow using the jQuery validation plugin with WebForms pages. The basic idea was to trigger validation only on submissions that occurred within a single logical form, instead of catching submissions anywhere on WebForms’ all-encompassing physical form.

This approach worked fine for a single logical form, but wasn’t robust enough when handling validation for multiple logical forms on a single page. Additionally, it did not properly handle the enter key, allowing users to (perhaps accidentally) slip past validation if they simply hit the enter key within a TextBox.

In this post, we will continue by refining the solution from last time. So, if you haven’t read the previous post, familiarize yourself with it first. Specifically, this post will cover how to implement an analogue of WebForms’ ValidationGroup, use that to independently validate multiple form regions, handle the enter key, and refactor the final solution to minimize duplicated code.

Click here to read the rest of this post »

You’ve probably noticed that Jörn Zaefferer’s jQuery validation plugin has been gaining momentum in the ASP.NET community lately. Between Microsoft’s implied endorsement via ASP.NET MVC 2.0 integration and the plugin’s recent inclusion on the Microsoft AJAX CDN, adoption is only increasing. Unfortunately for those who don’t or can’t use ASP.NET MVC yet, using the validation plugin within WebForms applications can be tricky.

Because the WebForms Postback model requires that the entire page be contained within a single form element, form submissions that shouldn’t trigger validation are likely. ASP.NET’s built-in validation controls solve this with ValidationGroups and the CausesValidation property, but that doesn’t help if you’d prefer to use the jQuery validation plugin.

However, there are a couple relatively easy workarounds that make it possible to use the jQuery validation plugin on WebForms pages, without re-architecting the page or its forms. In this post, I’ll show you why the WebForms page structure is a problem, how to make jQuery validation work with it, and an example of implementing those workarounds.

Note: I want to preface this by saying that you should never rely entirely on client-side validation. The jQuery validation plugin can be a great replacement for the client-side part of the ASP.NET Validators, but it is not a complete replacement on its own. Use responsibly!

Click here to read the rest of this post »

By now, you probably already know that Google hosts jQuery on its AJAX APIs CDN, free of charge. As I’ve discussed here in the past, I’m a big fan of using their CDN to achieve decreased latency, increased parallelism, and better caching.

If you’ve explored the AJAX APIs documentation a bit, you may know that jQuery UI is also hosted on Google’s CDN. Unfortunately, since jQuery UI plugins depend on a ThemeRoller theme, using a CDN for jQuery UI isn’t as easy as with jQuery itself.

Or, is it?

Click here to read the rest of this post »

It was great to see all the positive responses to the screencast I recently recorded with Craig Shoemaker on how to use Firebug’s console to learn jQuery. That being my first screencast, I really appreciate all of your support.

However, you almost unanimously commented that it was too difficult to read the commands typed at the console, and you were right. So, Craig and I re-recorded the entire thing, paying extra attention to the legibility of the end result.

Craig also managed to edit the same content down to 9:59m this time, so you can watch it on YouTube if you prefer:

If the HQ version of the YouTube video still isn’t legible enough for you, Craig also made a full resolution WMV available as well.