Tag: JavaScript

AJAX vs WebSockets

December 20, 2013 / / 1 Comment

I’m in the process of converting a web application from an Apache + PHP backend to Node.js. The application being converted is based heavily around real time interaction between users, so, it was a natural fit for WebSockets.

In fact the old application used a Node.js backend for WebSockets, but an Apache + PHP backend for everything else, including page generation and AJAX endpoints. This means every AJAX driven form had a PHP endpoint which performed a desired action and a WebSocket event listener waiting to broadcast the event to other users.

Having to recode this application from the ground up in a new asynchronous language presented an interesting question to me.

Why should I use AJAX when I have WebSockets?

Continue reading

Which Server Side Language is Right for You?

December 18, 2013 / / 0 Comments

One of the biggest hangups I had when starting to program was deciding what technology to use. At the time I was only writing server side code and was working in shared hosting, so my options were limited to various versions of PHP.

Within the last year I started using cloud hosting and thus gained the ability to configure my servers to use any language I wanted. Shortly after realizing this a small amount of fear came over me. The choice of language wasn’t made for me anymore, I would have to pick from a giant pool of languages. I would also be spending at least three months learning all about this language I picked before I would feel secure in it. After that three months I might not like it and would have wasted three months of my life.

At the time I was doing a lot of freelance and was instructor at a college teaching web development. Because I was teaching I wanted to know the basics of all the languages I could use on the server, just in case my students asked me about them.

I knew the basics of most of these languages but I had never written anything substantial in them. So, over one long weekend I locked myself in a room and started writing hello world, testing frameworks, making CRUD, overall building projects in every language and every framework I could get my hands on.

Four days later here are the four things I learned.

Continue reading

Cross Browser Voice Recognition with PocketSphinx.js

December 7, 2013 / / 2 Comments

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.

Continue reading