Blog/Podcast
Using lambda expressions with the Strategy Pattern
A common question we get from readers and from students in our Design Patterns Bootcamp course is about using Java lambda expressions with the Strategy Pattern. Our book, Head First Design Patterns, and our course both use Java to demonstrate how to implement a...
Use Map to organize data with JavaScript
We've got a new video, about the Map data structure in JavaScript. We'll take you through the basics of how to create and use Map, and then dive right into a fun example. Follow along as we read temperature data from a CSV file into an array using D3.js's csv() method, and then use a Map to group the temperatures by year. Then we can use that Map to compute the average yearly high and low temperatures, and convert the data back into an array, ready for making a visualization. This is great practice for using Map in JavaScript, so join us and learn how to use Map.
What I learned writing Head First books
Eric recently pointed me to this article about Steven Pinker's 2015 book on writing, A Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century and one reason why some writing is so hard to understand: The Curse of Knowledge. I haven't yet read...
Episode 2: A conversation on SEO with Nick Choat
We recently sat down with Nick Choat, author of Online or Flatline. In episode 2 of WickedlySmart Conversations, Nick describes his journey navigating the digital marketing waters around making a brick & mortar franchise successful. With Nick we dig into the...
Episode 1: A Conversation with Jose Aguinaga
This month we are pleased to offer you a podcast interview with José Jesus Perez Aguinaga, who is a JavaScript developer. Back in October 2016, José wrote a funny and clever sketch of a conversation with a friend about how it feels to learn JavaScript today. The...
Build a Generative Music Box
We've completed beta testing our second project and are now preparing to launch! Just like Project 1, A Generative Music Box will help you practice your JavaScript programming skills. What is it? If you've ever played with the Bloom app on your iOS device, then...
Using the Firefox Console
In a previous post I showed the features of the Safari and Chrome consoles. Here, I do the same for the Firefox console, which has many similar features, as well as a couple of features unique to Firefox. This is a great way to get comfortable in all the major...
Editing your HTML and CSS in the browser
Chrome and Safari both allow you to edit and experiment with your HTML and CSS right in the browser. The tools and features available in both these browsers have expanded considerably in the past couple of years, giving developers many more options for...
Where is the Web Headed?
Interested in the future of the Internet? WickedlySmart colleague Eric Freeman co-wrote a piece with technology guru David Gelernter for the Wall Street Journal on where the web is going.
We’ve teamed up with O’Reilly to develop a Manager’s Guide to Design Patterns
We’ve just finished a cool project with O’Reilly: a short manager’s guide to design patterns. Here’s the idea: create a guide that gives you the gist of design patterns, enough to remind you of what they are all about, or enough to get you motivated and on your way...
