Michael Girouard

Mike Girouard's Blog Load time configuration is the process where a JavaScript application configures itself as it is being loaded. This pattern is most commonly found in libraries in which they configure themselves at load time to be optimized for a particular browser. Load time configuration is also known as load time branching. Motivation The primary motivation behind load time configuration is to optimize conditional operations such as generating XMLHttpRequest instances or adding event listeners. Since both operations vary amongst clients, specific conditions must be checked before proceeding. The load time configuration pattern runs once at load time and sets the resulting value so that it doesn’t need to be checked again. Implementation The most common technique f... (more)

Rolling Your Own MVC: The Page Load Scenario

Michael Girouard's Blog Before I get into any sort of detail, I think it's important to say that there is more than one way to approach an MVC. Go ahead, ask a few seasoned developers how they would hack together a project like this and each one will give you a completely different answer. I'm going to do my best to simplify the process as much as I possibly can without damaging the stabil... (more)

AJAXWorld RIA Conference - Speaker Mike Girouard's JavaScript Design Patterns, #1

Mike Girouard's Blog I would like to begin this special series in the run-up to AJAXWorld RIA Conference & Expo in October with one of the most useful and commonplace patterns in my code. Arguably, this can be considered a feature of the JavaScript language rather than a design pattern; however, when considering the contexts in which it is applied, I regard it as a pattern. Self-invocati... (more)

Rolling Your Own MVC Framework - Starting-Point for Any PHP Application

Michael Girouard's Blog Over the next couple of articles, I'll be walking you through the process of developing a simple MVC framework that you can use as a starting point for almost any PHP application that needs to be developed. Furthermore this framework won't be like any other framework you've seen: it's going to be small enough to not obstruct the real development, elegant enough to m... (more)

Are the Job Titles "Web Designer" and "Web Developer" Too General?

Mike Girouard's Blog There are a lot of professions that have emerged from the web: designers, developers, strategists, search engine optimists, information architects, usability and accessibility consultants, the list goes on… Today, I’d like to talk about the first two. I wouldn’t go so far to say that the titles should be considered harmful by any means, rather we hav... (more)