Django JavaScript Integration: Ajax and Jquery

Description

Cover Copyright Credits Foreword About the Author About the Reviewers Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1: jQuery and Ajax Integration in Django Ajax and the XMLHttpRequest object Human speech: An overlaid function Ajax: Another overlaid function The technologies Ajax is overlaid on JavaScript XMLHttpRequest Methods Properties HTML/XHTML XML JSON CSS The DOM iframes and other Ajax variations JavaScript/Ajax Libraries Server-side technologies A look at Django Django templating kickstart A more complete glimpse at Django templating Setting JavaScript and other static content in place Summary Chapter 2: jQuery—the Most Common JavaScript Framework jQuery and basic Ajax jQuery Ajax facilities $.ajax() context data dataFilter dataType error(XMLHttpRequest, textStatus, errorThrown) success(data, textStatus, XMLHttpRequest) type url $.aj0axSetup() Sample invocation $.get() and $.post() .load() jQuery as a virtual higher-level language The selectors A closure-based example to measure clock skew Case study: A more in-depth application Chapter 3: Validating Form Input on the Server Side Chapter 4: Server-side Database Search with Ajax Chapter 5: Signing Up and Logging into a Website Using Ajax Chapter 6: jQuery In-place Editing Using Ajax Chapter 7: Using jQuery UI Autocomplete in Django Templates Chapter 8: Django ModelForm: a CSS Makeover Chapter 9: Database and Search Handling Chapter 10: Tinkering Around: Bugfixes, Friendlier Password Input, and a Directory That Tells Local Time Chapter 11: Usability for Hackers Appendix: Debugging Hard JavaScript Bugs Summary Chapter 3: Validating Form Input on the Server Side The standard lecture: low-level validation Matching regular expressions You cannot guarantee absolutely valid data Validating can detect (some) malicious input The Django way of validation Django gives you some things for free The steps in Django's validation A more sensible and cruelty-free approach to validation Things get murkier The zero-one-infinity rule: a cardinal rule of thumb in usability An improvement on Django's advertised approach A validation example: GPS coordinates Avoiding error messages that point fingers and say, "You're wrong!" Validation as demanding that assumptions be met Old-school: conform to our U.S.-based assumptions! Adding the wrong kind of band-aid Making assumptions and demanding that users conform At least names are simple, right? Even in ASCII, things keep getting murkier Better validation may be less validation Caveat: English is something of a lingua franca We don't have to negotiate with pistols Doing our best to solve the wrong problem: a story It really does apply to validation Facebook and LinkedIn know something better Summary Chapter 4: Server-side Database Search with Ajax Searching on the client side and server side Handling databases through Django models Models for an intranet employee photo directory Searching our database A tour of Django persistence facilities Summary Chapter 5: Signing Up and Logging into a Website Using Ajax admin.py: administrative functions called once functions.py: project-specific functions, including our @ajax_login_required decorator views.py: functions that render web pages style.css: basic styling for usability search.html: a template for client-side Ajax The Django admin interface Summary Chapter 6: jQuery In-place Editing Using Ajax Including a plugin How to make pages more responsive A template handling the client-side requirements The bulk of the profile Whitespace and delivery Page-specific JavaScript Support on the server side Summary Chapter 7: Using jQuery UI Autocomplete in Django Templates Adding autocomplete: first attempt Progressive enhancement, a best practice A real-world workaround "Interest-based negotiation": a power tool for problem solving when plan A doesn't work A first workaround Boilerplate code from jQuery UI documentation Turning on Ajax behavior (or trying to) Code on the server side Refining our solution further Summary Chapter 8: Django ModelForm: a CSS Makeover "Hello, world!" in ModelForm Expanding and customizing the example Customizing ModelForm pages' appearance Going under ModelForm's hood An excellent "stupid" question: where's the e-mail slot? Summary Chapter 9: Database and Search Handling Moving forward to an AHAH solution Django templates for simple AHAH Templating for a list of search results Template for an individual profile Views on the server side Telling if the user is logged in A view to support deletion The AHAH view to load profiles Helper functions for the AHAH view for searching An updated model An AHAH server-side search function Handling the client-side: A template for the main page CSS for styling the directory Our updated urlpatterns Summary Chapter 10: Tinkering Around: Bugfixes, Friendlier Password Input, and a Directory That Tells Local Time Minor tweaks and bugfixes Setting a default name of "(Insert name here)" Eliminating Borg behavior Confusing jQuery's load() with html() Preventing display of deleted instances Adding a favicon.ico Handling password input in a slightly different way A directory that includes local timekeeping Summary Chapter 11: Usability for Hackers Usability begins with anthropology… and Django hackers have a good start on anthropology Anthropological usability techniques An introductory example: card sorting Focus groups: cargo cult research for usability Anthropological observation: the bedrock of usability More than one way to see the same situation Applying this foundation to usability It's just like (hard) debugging Lessons from other areas Live cross-cultural encounters History Old books and literature The last other area: whatever you have Understanding the user A lesson from optimization What's wrong with scratching an itch, or you are not your user Worst practices from the jargon file Python and usability It's not all about the computer! What to do in the concrete Further reading Summary Appendix: Debugging Hard JavaScript Bugs "Just fiddling with Firebug" is considered harmful Cargo cult debugging at your fingertips The scientific method of debugging Exhausting yourself by barking up the wrong tree The humble debugger The value of taking a break Two major benefits to asking for help Firebug and Chrome developer tools The basics across browsers Zeroing in on Chrome Summary Index