A Technology Blog by Alan James
Traditionally web applications were built using backend technology. A request is made to a server and based on the URL being requested the server responds by generating a resource, usually HTML.
To do this servers need to “route” requests to different resource generation logic. This logic is what backend developers build.
This worked well for many years, but as browsers became more advanced code started being moved from the backend to the frontend.
Last time I covered what Node.js is and briefly covered creating server side JavaScript applications with it. But as part of my recent desire to write everything in JavaScript I have also started writing mobile applications in JavaScript using Cordova.
I’ve written mobile applications in various technolgies and even have some on the Google Play Store, but I like writing mobile applications in Cordova more than other technology I’ve used, which are Java and Flex with Adobe AIR.
JavaScript used to be used only within the browser. But nowadays JavaScript can be used pretty much anywhere programming is supported. It can be used in a browser, server, mobile device, and even desktop.
I’m going to write about building JavaScript applications for mobile devices and desktops in future posts. Today I will discuss how to make server applications in JavaScript.
Node.js is great at times, but in some ways it’s a real pain in the ass.
Sure, it can create WebSocket servers, and it seems to be on the cutting edge of everything, but try to update an array of objects in a database then output a message and you’re in trouble.
For several months I have wanted a cross browser voice recognition system that doesn’t rely on a server, use browser plugins or extensions, or use external programs like Flash. Something that could continually listen for keywords and trigger functions when one is detected. I looked into the webkitSpeechRecognition() object in Chrome, but unfortunately that relies on Google servers and is only available in Chrome. I looked into building extensions and plugins for Firefox and Chrome that package CMU Sphinx, but that is not native code. I even got voice recognition working in Flash, but wasn’t happy because it didn’t work on my Android device.
After months of looking I have found one that fits the bill completely and is really awesome.