SlowNews: IM in JS, XHP, ePub

Ajax IM: Open Source IM, Totally JavaScript

The MIT-licensed Ajax IM library lets you add instant messaging to your site and features a new node.js server side. This is certainly a good use for an async framework like node! The one thing I noticed while sitting on their site is that it has an unpleasant way of tacking things onto your browser’s history without actually going anywhere. Should you want to roll your own messaging, you could fire up Faye on node.js and use your favorite Bayeux client side library.

XHP: E4X for PHP

Did you know that some implementations of ECMAScript allow you to embed XML right in your JavaScript? I’d imagine many people don’t, because folks in the “real world” need to make sites that run on IE. Well, if you’ve been pining for the ability to embed XML right there in your code, or if you’ve been looking for a chance to turn PHP inside out, you’re going to love XHP, which Facebook recently open sourced. At the very least, you’ll go read about it and then learn about XHP’s implementation performance characteristics from none other than Rasmus himself.

wtfjs

OK, so I’m a well-known booster of JavaScript. But, you’ll never hear me say that it’s perfect. Every language has its warts, and wtfjs has an enjoyable collection of JavaScript’s.

LESS.app Now With Automatically More Less

LESS.app lets Mac users write their CSS in LESS and have that LESS automatically turned into valid CSS as they work. Languages like LESS are cool, because they have an opportunity to influence how the actual standards will evolve.

ePub in JavaScript

The ePub standard looks to be gaining serious momentum as an ebook format, albeit without the support of the top selling ebook reader to date. There has been a good bit of work done to create usable ePub readers in JavaScript, and Michael Mahemoff has a good roundup over at Ajaxian.

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Top 11 JavaScript Features (from wtfjs)

1. "string" instanceof String; // false.

2. typeof NaN // number, of course.

1.

(function(){
  var x = y = 1;
})();
alert(x); // undefined
alert(y); // 1 -- oops, auto-global!