HTML CSS & Javascript

HTML / CSS / JS
Best practices and optimization techniques

Fi (Fantasy Interactive)

www.f-i.com david.lindkvist@f-i.com

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Why are we here?
The web is slowly moving towards using open standards
HTML, CSS and Javascript is the new Flash (Silverlight anyone?)

Javascript performance has doubled in the past few years

More and more application logic end up in the UI

HTML, CSS and JS are VERY forgiving - we need solid
conventions to build on

3

Agenda
HTML

CSS

Javascript & jQuery

Performance optimizations

Visual optimizations

4

Semantic Markup
Use correct tag to describe your content

H1, H2, H3 tags for headings
OL, UL, DL for ordered, unordered, and definition lists
P tags for paragraphs

Pages immediately become more accessible, both for
search engines, and humans alike (such as a user who
need to use a screen reader)

5

Semantic Markup - naming
header, topNavigation, sidebarNavigation, leftColumn,
rightColumn, footer... sounds familiar?

Avoid using names that describe position... think
content!

brandingArea, mainNavigation, subNavigation,
mainContent, sub content, siteInfo

CSS can change position of your content!

6

Keep it clean!
Try not to bloat your markup with unnecessary
elements or CSS classes.

Avoid using extra block elements just for positioning -
change to display:block on inline elements instead.

Use the cascading functionality in CSS instead of
adding unnecessary classes

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A case of div-itis
<div class="content">
<p>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet dolor adispiscing elit.
</p>
</div>
<div class="featureList">
<ul>
<li class="redBullet">Dog</li>
<li class="redBullet">Cat</li>
<li class="redBullet">Mouse</li>
</ul>
</div>

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A case of class-itis
<p class="content" >
</p>
<ul class="featureList" >
<li class="redBullet">Dog</li>
<li class="redBullet">Cat</li>
<li class="redBullet">Mouse</li>
</ul>

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Clean and simple markup!
<p>
</p>
<ul class="redBullets" >
<li>Dog</li>
<li>Cat</li>
<li>Mouse</li>
</ul>

10

CSS - Words of advice
Aim for readable, maintainable code (leave the
complex shorthand to the CSS compression
algorithms)
Use the cascade! That’s what it’s there for.
Be mindful of CSS selectors
pseudo-classes and properties which aren’t available to all
browsers (IE6 is going to be your enemy most of the time)
Class names should NOT BE CHAINED.
IE6 does not support this: “div.classnameA.classnameB {”
Check changes in all browsers as you make the
changes — not once you’re 90% “done”

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CSS - The Cascade
Sorts by origin and importance
1. inline style -> 2. embedded stylesheet -> 3. linked stylesheet
A style rule with higher importance wins over identical rules
with lower importance
Sorts by specificity of the CSS selector

Notes:
If 2 or more rules have the same importance, origin and
specificity, the last one wins
The browsers default style sheet is treated as if it’s an
imported stylesheet imported before all other

12

Use a reset stylesheet
All browsers have a default stylesheet

Resets default view behaviors of many HTML elements
to display uniformly across all browsers

Include as first external stylesheet

Example: Popular reset stylesheets
Eric Meyer’s reset.css
YUI reset.css

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CSS - File structure
Choose a file structure that makes sense for your
project!

Some larger projects benefits from a more separated
approach:
reset.css
typography.css
layout.css
gui.css

Other projects may be fine using one single stylesheet

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CSS - ID your body
Flexibility to apply page specific styles without adding
separate stylesheets

</head>
<body id=”contactPage”>

Override default style using the body ID:

a { color: blue; }

#contactPage a { color: red; }

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CSS - Sliding Doors
Create dynamic length graphics for buttons, tabs and
menu items

Use 2 nested elements and slide background images
over each other

<a href=”#”><span>Text</span></a>

<span> <a>
left
side
Text right
side

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CSS image sprites
Contain several different graphics in one file

WHY?
Reduces number of HTTP calls to server
No “flicker” when first rolling over item with hover state.
Modifying CSS background-position is instant!

Example: button sprites

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Tips when using image sprites
Expect sprites to grow—group/space items accordingly

Place sprites on even multiples (50px, 100px, 500px)

Avoid using string values for positioning (ie, “top”, “left”,
“right”, etc.). Pixels are preferred when specifying the
background position for all sprites
Except in the case of the sliding-doors technique. Here, a
value of 100% is necessary.

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If using the ‘background: ...’ CSS shorthand, enter ALL
values in their PROPER order:
1. background-color: transparent | color
2. background-image: none | url(path/to/image.jpg)
3. background-repeat: no-repeat | repeat | repeat-x | repeat-y
4. background-attachment: scroll | fixed
5. background-position: 0px 0px

Example:
background: transparent url(../assets/sprite_main.png) no-
repeat scroll 0px -50px;

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Keep PSDs of the sprites up-to-date

Remember that global light settings get reset to the
default of 120°— double check the drop shadows with
the original design, most designers prefer to use 90°!!!

GIFs and PNGs optimize horizontally

Experiment with compression settings. Often times,
PNG-8 will be smaller.

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PNG optimization
PNG was developed as an open-source replacement
for GIF

Introduced new features for compression

Photoshop don’t offer any optimization options
PNG-24 Truecolor
PNG-8 Indexed-color

PNG’s are not “unoptimizable”!

21

GIF compression
Each number represents a unique color
GIF compress horizontally, thus an image like this will
not compress well:

22

PNG Scanline filtering (delta filters)
2 represents applied filter “UP”
“For the current pixel take the value of the above pixel
and add it to the current value.”

23

1 represents applied filter “SUB”
“Take the value of the left pixel and add it to the current
value.”

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1 represents applied filter “SUB”
“Take the value of the left pixel and add it to the current
value.”

25

PNG optimization
Compression utilities can help us:
Pick up best image type (truecolor, indexed-color)
Pick up best delta filters (5 delta filters to select from)
Pick up best compression strategy

All these operations does NOT affect image quality!

One of the best compression services:
http://www.gracepointafterfive.com/punypng
But where is the command line script?

26

Progressive Enhancement
The web was using Graceful Degradation
Target most advanced browsers, apply fixes to older browsers

Moving towards Progressive Enhancement
Focus on the content!
1. Begin with semantic markup
2. Apply basic style using CSS
3. Transform into richer user experience using JS and CSS

Examples:
Atari.com
Alkoholprofilen.se

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Javascript namespaces
Stay away from the global namespace to avoid
collisions with 3rd party code

Wrap all functions in a namespace object:

var myNamespace = {};
myNamespace.myFunction = function () {
// I’m not a global function and I like it
};

Example: Atari.com global.js

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jQuery - Sizzle selectors
jQuery includes the Sizzle CSS selector engine from
version 1.3

The syntax goes something like this:
$(String selector, DOMElement context);

Example:
var myList = $(‘#myList’);
$(‘li’, myList);

Supports CSS3 selectors

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jQuery - Chain selectors
Requires 3 DOM traversals:
$(‘#mydiv’).html(‘Hello World!’);
$(‘#mydiv’).css(‘border’, ‘1px solid black’);
$(‘#mydiv’).fadeIn(‘fast’);

Requires 1 DOM traversal:
$(‘#mydiv’).html(‘Hello World!’).css(‘color’, ‘red’).fadeIn(‘fast’);
OR
var myDiv = $(‘#mydiv’);
myDiv.html(‘Hello World!’);
myDiv.css(‘color’, ‘red’);
myDiv.fadeIn(‘fast’);

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jQuery - Chain selectors
Not visually stunning! But...
... cuts down on DOM traversal and hundreds of
internal calls:
$(‘#mydiv’)
.html(‘Hello World!’)
.children(‘p’)
.css(‘color’, ‘red’)
.end()
.css(‘background-color’, ‘#ffdead’);

This chain will dip into its children, and the end() method will
end the chain, reverting to the initial selector

31

jQuery - Plugin Pattern
jQuery offers a mechanism to extend it with plugins

Most internal methods and functions are written using
this pattern

Helps us build reusable components

Should be easy to override default properties

32

jQuery - Plugin Pattern
All new methods are attached to the jQuery.fn object,
all functions to the jQuery object.
inside methods, 'this' is a reference to the current
jQuery object.
Any methods or functions you attach must have a
semicolon (;) at the end or compressed code will break
Your method must return the jQuery object
You should use this.each to iterate over the current set
of matched elements
Always attach the plugin to jQuery directly instead of $,
so users can use a custom alias via noConflict().

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Example plugin pattern
Template example: The Fi plugin pattern

Real world example: The Fi checkbox plugin

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Page specific Javascript
Inline script
Dynamic config vars that may change for each page load
External scripts
page-specific javascript file
Used to load plugins
Override plugin defaults with config variables

EXAMPLE: load and configure labelinput plugin

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Qunit
Latest version does not rely on jQuery

Example: checkbox plugin unit test

Testswarm.com

36

JS logging
alert()

console.log()

Blackbird JS
http://www.gscottolson.com/blackbirdjs/

Example: Creating an abstract jQuery log function to
wrap any logger utility.

37

Optimize page load
Use external resources not inline JS/CSS
External files will be cached and minimizes document size

CSS at the top

JS at the bottom

38

Javascript files always block!
Blocks render because they might document.write()

Downloads sequentially

39

Skip document.ready()
Will only fire once all external resources has been
loaded.
External scripts from third parties like Google Analytics cause
long delays (~1s) before event fires

Put script in correct order at bottom of page

Put analytics code last!

WARNING! Requires a solid file structure

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Example - Load order
<head>
reset.css
layout.css
</head>
<body>

jquery.js
jquery.checkbox.js
global.js
page-home.js
google-analytics.js
</body>

41

Optimize load time
Compress external resources!

CSS compressor (YUICompressor, CSSTidy)

JS compressor (JSmin, YUICompressor, etc)

GZIP server response

Example: YUICompressor and GZIP size comparisons

42

JSLint Your Code
What’s JSLint?
Looks for problems in Javascript code
It’s a code quality tool
A Javascript syntax checker and validator

Prevents errors occurring from compressing files!
Looks at style conventions and structural problems that may
cause problems

WARNING: JSLint will hurt your feelings!

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JSLint Recommended options
1. In the “Options” box, click “The Good Parts”
2. Uncheck “Allow one var statement per function”
3. Check “Assume a browser”
4. Uncheck “Disallow ++ and --”
5. Uncheck “Require ‘use strict;’” (ECMAScript 5 strict
mode) unless you actually test in a strict browser

http://www.jslint.com

EXAMPLE: JSlint Checbox plugin

44

Reduce number of HTTP requests
Biggest impact on end-user response times is the
number of page components

With an empty cache, each external component
requires a new HTTP request

Can’t the browser download all files in parallel?

HTML/1.1 spec. suggests max 2 simultaneous
downloads per hostname

45

How do we reduce number of
HTTP requests?
Merge common files
Global Javascript files
Global stylesheets

Use CSS image sprites!

46

Automated build script
Let the ANT do the work! (or any other build tool)

1. merge common files

2. compress merged files

EXAMPLE: Ant build script

47

Maximize parallel downloads
Most browsers only download 2 files from same
domain in parallel

2-4 domains give optimal performance

Remember: Javascripts are usually downloaded and
parsed sequentially

EXAMPLE: Panamera Family Tree - 1 vs 4 domains

48

Downloading 2 components in parallel using 1
hostname

49

Downloading 8 components in parallel using 4
hostnames

50

Yahoo! performance tests

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Yahoo! performance guidelines:
Use at least 2 hostnames
Use no more than 4 hostnames
Reduce number of components in page

2-4 domains give optimal performance - test!

Remember: Javascripts are usually downloaded and
parsed sequentially

EXAMPLE: Panamera Family Tree - 1 vs 4 domains

52

Progressive Enhancement + scripts at bottom can
cause load flickering

Example: Throttle checkbox plugin

How do we prevent this?

Hide using CSS until Javascript shows the enhanced
component?

Example: Test checkbox using disabled Javascript

53

Break the rules!

Let’s hide enhanced components in HEAD using
Javascript.

Load external stylesheet hideOnLoad.css using
document.write()

<script>
document.write(‘<link href=”...”></link>’);
</script>

54

Cache busting
Add version numbers on external resources:
Stylesheets
Javascript files
CSS sprites
Images

Example:

<script src=”jquery.fi.checkbox.js?v=1.0” type=”...”></script>

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Firefox Plugins
Firebug plugin & Firebug lite
Web Developer toolbar
HTML Validator
YSlow
Page Speed
PixelPerfect
Example: atari.com
SenSEO
Example: panamera.com
500k visitors since Sep10. SEO is generating 10% of visitors -
most popular path after user typing in URL

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Tools
Charles http proxy
Bandwidth throttling
Excellent request/response sniffing
Record sessions
Can parse binary AMF messages (Action Message Format) used
by Adobe Flash

Speed Tracer for Chrome

IDE: Aptana Studio
Based on Eclipse.
Good support for JS frameworks!

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Further reading
Yahoo Performance
http://developer.yahoo.com/performance/

A List Apart - http://alistapart.com
Sitepoint - http://sitepoint.com
Smashing Magazine - http://smashingmagazine.com
Ajaxian - http://ajaxian.com/

John Resig’s Blog - http://ejohn.com
Steve Souder’s Blog - http://stevesouders.com

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Thanks!

C

Contact: david.lindkvist@f-i.com www.f-i.com

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