Amazing Web App - Ajax

teammatt3's picture

He has: 2,102 posts

Joined: Sep 2003

Check out http://www.writely.com/

That's a pretty dang good idea. It's amazing what you can do with Ajax these days. I gotta learn how to program like that, I still haven't mastered HTML. Sad

Would you guys use something like that? Know of any other cool apps like this one?

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

Quote: Sorry, but this browser does not
support web word-processing.

Sad

teammatt3's picture

He has: 2,102 posts

Joined: Sep 2003

It works in IE and FireFox. You must be using Opera... One more reason to switch to FF, web word-processing Wink

They have: 11 posts

Joined: Mar 2006

I think Ajax has incredible potential, and may use it.

dk01's picture

He has: 516 posts

Joined: Mar 2002

Anyone have invites since its in beta? I'd love to check it out.

teammatt3's picture

He has: 2,102 posts

Joined: Sep 2003

All you have to do is sign up. It's open to everyone.

Busy's picture

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We have an oven cleaner here called ajax, is powerful stuff but not ideal for computers ;0)

Renegade's picture

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Personally, I don't all the "AJAX" stuff as it uses the "non standard" XMLHttpRequest() (I think it was).

I try to stay away from it.

Roo's picture

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Joined: Apr 1999

Is the code valid? On that site I see the dreaded FONT in the code.

Renegade's picture

He has: 3,022 posts

Joined: Oct 2002

Well, the page does not even have a DOCTYPE so... no, it probably isn't valid. Plain

teammatt3's picture

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You guys refuse to use web applications just because it has non-valid code? You gotta be kidding me. I know having valid code is important to you but that's taking it to the extreme.

Roo's picture

She has: 840 posts

Joined: Apr 1999

Well with so many out there that are valid, or can be made valid with a bit of tweakage....yeah...I'd refuse to use it because it isn't valid.

As a matter of fact I need a dropdown menu and I'm refusing to use dhtml scripts I'm finding because they don't validate. I'm trying to get ALA's 'Suckerfish driopdowns' done with CSS to work in IE...

Roo

Renegade's picture

He has: 3,022 posts

Joined: Oct 2002

Well, I don't think it's being extreme at all, what is the point of having web standards and validation if you're not going to follow it? AJAX depends on that one non standard function so, even though it may be "Web 2.0" the supposed "future" of the web, we're actually going backwards by using non standard coding practices.

They have: 36 posts

Joined: Mar 2006

Renegade wrote: Well, I don't think it's being extreme at all, what is the point of having web standards and validation if you're not going to follow it?

Define standards. Take CSS for example, the CSS 1 spec is a recommendation which in W3C speak means it's a finished product. CSS 2.0 was revised into CSS 2.1 because no-one was even close to implementing it succesfully and it remains a working draft to this day rather than a recommendation. Is that a standard? How about CSS 3, that's actively being worked on so is that a standard? Where do we draw the line? If you want to be ultra standards compliant then it's CSS 1.0 all the way, none of the other versions are officially done yet. Or you could bend with the wind and use the parts of 2.1 that are implemented while waiting for 3 to be finalised.

XMLHttpRequest is supported by all the major browsers whereas NONE of the CSS specifications are, not fully. Which is more of a standard? The one that's written down in the hopes people will one day comply or the one that's out there and working right now?

XMLHttpRequest will eventually be part of the ECMA spec, that's pretty much a given. Refusing to use it until then is just shooting yourself in the foot.

teammatt3's picture

He has: 2,102 posts

Joined: Sep 2003

Don't you use Gmail? Isn't that Ajax? Google search pages don't validate, do we boycott Google? I think not.

I know I will go to Code Hell for saying this but I don't give a crap about valid code. I see see no benefit from valid code. Anyway, I'm getting off topic here so back to Writely. Pretend it validates, it's a pretty cool app now huh? Smiling

He has: 7 posts

Joined: Mar 2006

teammatt3 wrote: Don't you use Gmail? Isn't that Ajax? Google search pages don't validate, do we boycott Google? I think not.

I know I will go to Code Hell for saying this but I don't give a crap about valid code. I see see no benefit from valid code. Anyway, I'm getting off topic here so back to Writely. Pretend it validates, it's a pretty cool app now huh? Smiling

i agree completely, you guys are a all little babies

timjpriebe's picture

He has: 2,667 posts

Joined: Dec 2004

Complying to standards in the web world can be compared to complying with standards in the building world, although it's not a perfect parallel.

Are the rules there for a reason?

Yes.

Would we be better off if everyone complied with those rules?

Yes.

Is that going to happen?

No.

Is 100% perfect compliance really necessary in most cases?

No.

Would it hurt anything to be 100% perfectly compliance?

Aside from time spent complying, no.

Would I fault anyone for not wanting to use something that's 100% compliant?

No.

Would I fault anyone for using it if it's not 100% compliant?

No.

If I think something should be 100% compliant, am I going to take the earliest opportunity to point that out to the owner?

No, that will very likely turn them off. If it's so non-compliant that it just doesn't work, then I probably will. If they're having major code problems, then sure, I'll tell them to comply first and see if that doesn't fix their problems. But if they ask for a critique for their site, I'm not going to start off forcing compliance on them.

If anyone else advocates compliance and does go with the tactic of mentioning compliance first, should I jump down their throat?

In the same vein, that wouldn't get them to change. If they choose to critique something by first mentioning compliance, that's their choice.

Busy's picture

He has: 6,151 posts

Joined: May 2001

If we had to wait until something was finished before using it 90% of people would be doomed.

I'm still waiting for Windows 95 to be finished, and 98, ME, 2000 ...
HTML is still not 100% supported in all browsers -each browser has a few tags they ignore or add

They have: 36 posts

Joined: Mar 2006

Busy wrote: If we had to wait until something was finished before using it 90% of people would be doomed.

My point exactly, the only real standard is what's implemented. SMB is a standard yet the Microsoft implementation extended it and changed all sorts of things. The Samba guys can't turn round and say "We will only follow the published standard" because it won't work with MS servers, they have to work with what's out there because that's the real standard not what's in an outdated document.

All the major browsers support XMLHttpRequest therefore it's a de facto standard, the fact the ECMA haven't got round to codifying it yet is rather beside the point.

They have: 36 posts

Joined: Mar 2006

I came across this at David Shea's site while reading up on sometheing else and thought some of you might be interested. It's about a completely different topic (using tables for layout) but the conclusion is the same, "Semantics only get you so far; at some point, you have to compromise and just use the tools you have at your disposal.".

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