This month we're holding a two-parter meeting. We'll start with a 30 minute presenation on CSS then get into some fun tips for running apps on Heroku.
CSS Basics De-fluffed
I won't be able to teach you CSS in half an hour - but I will try to explain why they are not as hard as some make them appear.
I will focus on CSS selectors. CSS is a style-sheet language, designed to...
[read more] This month we're holding a two-parter meeting. We'll start with a 30 minute presenation on CSS then get into some fun tips for running apps on Heroku.
CSS Basics De-fluffed
I won't be able to teach you CSS in half an hour - but I will try to explain why they are not as hard as some make them appear.
I will focus on CSS selectors. CSS is a style-sheet language, designed to separate form from content, and only works in conjunction with HTML and XML. It's important to understand how to address HTML elements for styling, and do so while observing the rules of code economy and reusability. If you understand why line 1 and 2 below most probably mean the same, and what is the rare case where you do have to use (1), you probably know a lot already:
body#content-page div.content-container div.content-module p.text-block {font-size: 0.9em; color:#333333;}
.text-block {font-size: 0.9em; color:#333333;}
I will also discuss the cascade, and the notions of inheritance, precedence and specificity.
Time permitting, we may talk about the box model, floating and positioning.
Biography
I've been doing Web development for the past 15 or so years. Before that, in a different time and in a far-off land, I was a teacher and a journalist. My main focus has been the Web front end - HTML, CSS and JavaScript, but I've done quite a bit of JSP (JSTL, Struts 1 and 2) and XML/XSLT development. I was an early adopter of CSS, back when FONT tags were not considered bad. I don't think of myself as a CSS expert, yet I believe I have enough knowledge to share. I worked at Cars.com for 11 years - enough time to leave my signature on every page of the site. For the past 3 years I've been with Sears, where I've been changing departments each year. At ServiceLive.com, I untangled a masterfully crafted web of Dojo, Prototype and jQuery, left there for me by many developers across two continents. SearsCommercial.com was fun - we rebuilt that from scratch, so I had the opportunity to drive the UI code architecture and development without worrying about supporting any legacy pages and tools. Sears Mobile was even more fun - we could get deeper into HTML5 and CSS3 features, and the JQM framework. I'm with Sears Core now, taking on projects for the Sears.com and Kmart.com main sites.
Got 99 Problems But My App Host Ain't One Of Them
Rails & Heroku is to productivity what sliced bread is to comparing every thing against since it's invention.
Heroku is an incredible platform and makes integration with cutting-edge technologies to build a robust application very easy. I'm using Heroku to build UGl.st and I'll show you the tools I'm using and how you can get up and running without breaking the bank.
UGl.st is a Rails application that runs on Heroku and utilizes schedule jobs, background processing, document and relational datastores, json api's, uptime monitoring, performance monitoring and a plethora of cool tech. All for the low, low price of $0.
I'll demonstrate how I'm able to manage my deploys with a simple script and how to get tons of useful information from your app.
This session will focus more on Rails and Ruby but will be useful for anyone who's interested in running a powerful and scalable application using the JVM, Python or even PHP.
As time and interest permits I'll also demonstrate my local development tool chain including zsh, tmux and vim and how I'm able to build a local development toolchain that rivals any IDE I've used to date.
Biography
Mike is the founder of Software Craftsmanship McHenry County, a developer at Groupon and has been heavily involved in the Chicago Code Camp conference these past three years. He's a husband to one and the father of 2 kids and with the next is expected to launch in early 2013. Mike's also created UGtastic and is currently working on UGl.st, sites that will help people who love user-groups learn more about their communities.
Express Pigeon
Express Pigeon is an amazingly advanced yet intuitive email system created by Igor Polevoy. He's extended an offer to SCMC members, sign up for 1 month and get three additional months FREE.
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