How to build your first project using ExtJS framework? Here’s shortly all instructions to quickly start a project using ExtJS libraries.

First of all, download SDK libraries from the ExtJS site. In the archive you’ll find install instructions; simply you’ll need only these files:

• ext-base.js, from adapter/ext folder (or another base if you’ll use it combined with another framework)
• ext-all.js (compressed version) or ext-all-debug.js (obviously for debugging)
• ext-lang-xx.js from folder source/locale to get ext in your language
• resource folder (keeping only default themes and only ext-all.css file)

Now to use it you can just create a web page and include the 3 specified .js files, in the same order as written above. Then include ext-all.css in the page, and voila, Ext is installed in your page.

To begin, read some tutorial, and start with the examples you find online, or also in the same SDK archive file. The API documentation is available online, and also offline (you need to install AIR support). A good resource to get confronted is the community forum, and a custom google search on it.
For the development you’ll need a JS IDE, I suggest Spket, standalone or included as plugin of Aptana or Eclipse. In Jack Slocum’s blog (ExtJS founder) you’ll find all instructions to install the IDE and to configure a Javascript Profile to get autocomplete for ExtJS. There’s also this page where you can find a lot of resources.

Chrome is new open source browser developed by Google, outed today (ops…yesterday, midnight is past), and it’s really a revolution. You could imagine a super sofisticated browser, and insted Google suprises all as always.
It has a really simple and clear interface, for every user.
It’s really rapid with javascript, thanks to its js virtual machine. Yes, it isn’t a Java virtual machine but a Javascript virtual machine. It improves a lot js code execution, and the result is that you get a page in milliseconds.
Only a bar, Omnibox, you’ll never lose yourself with too many bars. It’s similar to Firefox 3 awesome bar, but it includes also search bar.
One process for every tab, a problem on a tab doesn’t affect all opened browser tabs and garbage collection is better managed.
No need to set full screen mode: tabs are displayed at top to save space, and there aren’t too many toolbars or status bars.
Homepage contains 9 thumbnails of most visited sites, most recently bookmarked pages and history search.
And finally a pearl…options are spitted in three tabs: Basics, Minor Tweaks, Under the Hood (in Italian: Impostazioni di base, Piccoli ritocchi, Roba da smanettoni)…really funny

I evaluate this as a killer application that will have a great part of market. Now is only a beta test but I see a pink future for this browser; Google always introduces great innovations and applications but I think this will be the better program.

You can read a long but exaustive comics review, watch tutorial videos or read other reviews: Mozilla Links - comparison with Firefox; Mozilla Links - Browser Wars II

Google Chrome download

What do you think about?

I’m a developer, so the most are web development extensions, but I didn’t forget others…
These are my favourite add-ons for Firefox 3:

• Colourful Tabs: it colors your tabs, your browser just looks nicer
• ColorZilla: advanded colorpicker
• Delicious Bookmarks: easy and rapid way to embed your bookmarks with Firefox and sharing them
• Download Statusbar: shows your downloads in a comfortable toolbar
• Firebug: The developer extension, simply complete of all tools ad essential
• Gmail Notifier: be immediately notified on mail received on your GMail box
• GoogleToolbar: I use it for the very useful translator
• GooglePreview: shows thumbnails preview for every page found in Google searches
• Html Validator: w3c html code validation check
• Hyperwords: selecting a word or a phrase it adds a lot of operation with: search, translate, post to blog…
• IE Tab: test your site with Internet Explorer into Firefox
• JSView: lists all Javascript and Css files of the page and open them with your favourite editor
• McAfee SiteAdvisor: a security tool which tell you if a site is trustable
• MeasureIt: extensions useful to measure what you want in the page
• PdfDownload: prompt you every time what you want to do with a .pdf file
• StumbleUpon: discovery new sites based on your interests and share it with friends
• Yahoo! Mail Notifier: be immediately notified on mail received on your Yahoo! Mail box

And what are yours?

JSLint is probably the most powerful Javascript online syntax checker. It finds errors you have never thinked they could be exist. In fact the author gives you a warning: JSLint will hurt your feelings. It’s damn true, but it’s also a js tool you can’t live without more.
Just paste your code and push JSLint button, you’ll get all errors, warnings, and a detailed list of your variables and functions. You can customize your inspection, disabling some unwanted checks, just read the documentation. Inspection is all client-side (of course made with javascript), so don’t worry about your code privacy.

The first reason to download Firefox 3 is that Firefox is simply the best browser. The second is to seek a Guinness World Record, the most downloaded file in only 24 hours.
Subscribe to Spread Firefox to be warned on the release date to download it a help us to reach the goal.

I tried Firefox RC1 and it’s so, so powerful. The most considerable thing is the speed with javascript, up to three times faster!

Download Firefox 3

I didn’t find a free text editor to indent code, but I found this powerful beautifier. I use it to format js or json code. For example, Firebug can track ajax calls and shows the json response (unformatted). With this tool you can paste the response body, indent it, and finally read the content without going crazy…

Read this interesting review of Gran Paradiso, the next release for Firefox, the third.

Woopra is a statistic program very complete, with a beautiful and catchy interface. It needs online registration and activation (it’s still in beta and you’ll be activated after some time) and you need to download the client to install on your computer.
Woopra has more features, and the most important thing it’s there are organized and ready to read and understand; I think it’s better of Google Analytics, because it’s more direct and immediate. But if you want custom statistics, use Google Analytics.
You can view all features, some are really innovative, like the live tracking (I adore it) and the chat with visitors (wow!!).

View Woopra video introduction

Ext JS (Ext) is a javascript-based framework for developing Rich Internet Applications, and it’s simply wonderful.
Other Javascript frameworks like JQuery, Prototype and many others are powerful and let you make web pages cooler and more interactive, but their limits are evident. Yes, your web pages will be shorter than plain javascript files but if you wanna develop web applications or someother more complex, you need other, you need Ext.
Ext has many built-in components, which enables you with only a little lines of javascript to create an evoluted graphical user interface, with associated events. You can build forms with embedded form validation, data grid with dynamic options like editing or sorting, or you can simulate a desktop environment with windows in a web page. And more: feed readers, tabbed windows, trees, dynamic loaded combos, and all you can need. It’s also skinnable and customizable. It’s cross-browser compatible, and you don’t need to worry about browser incompatibilities.
And the magic of this tool is that you can forget all javascript functions, you’ll need to know only javascript and json syntax, all the rest is Ext and only Ext.
It’s used by many important and famous customers and that’s a sign of reliability and powerfulness of this framework. You find the customers list in home page. There’ s a complete and well explained documentation, and there are also nice examples to begin learning, some tutorials and a forum to get support.

A comparison between some frameworks
Read a related discussion about ajax frameworks (Italian)
Another review (Italian)

I’m an ExtJS developer, so contact me to get consultancy.

Per chi non è ancora riuscito ad identificarsi in un certo partito in questa campagna elettorale c’è Openpolis, per orientarsi nell’abisso dei partiti italiani.
Una serie di 25 velocissime domande ti dirà da quali partiti si accostano o si discostano i tuoi ideali. E’ stato realizzato grazie ad un questionario proposto ai vari partiti, e lo ritengo un progetto molto interessante, anche perché la battaglia mediatica avviene quasi esclusivamente tra PD e PDL, come se ci fossero solo loro, mentre è giusto che anche i piccoli partiti abbiano voce in capitolo. Se no ci ritroviamo al governo sempre la stessa gente, la minestra è sempre quella.

Vai al test di “Voi siete qui”