GeezerVison

The future of web app development is taking shape, and it’s changing the way we think about server-side app architecture. In this article, Matt E. Patterson shows why a new WebSockets-driven approach is catching developers’ attention, and how it can mean faster, easier development that results in an experience just as rich as client-side SPAs.

Voice user interfaces, smart software agents, and AI-powered search are changing the way users—and computers—interact with content. Whether or not you’re building services for these emerging technologies, structured content is now necessary to ensure the accuracy and integrity of your content across the evolving digital landscape.

In the second installment of A List Apart’s four-part “From URL to Interactive” series, Travis Leithead, former editor of W3C’s HTML spec, walks us through the process of parsing HTML: from how browsers create trees to how the DOM responds to events. Equipped with this knowledge, you’ll be able to make smarter DOM decisions, reduce time to interactive, and eliminate unintended reflows.

When we think about it, our whole industry depends on our faith in a handful of “black boxes” few of us fully understand: browsers. We hand over our HTML, CSS, JavaScript, cross our fingers, and hope they render the experience we have in our heads. But knowing how they work can really get you out of a jam when things go wrong. That’s why we’ve assembled a handful of incredibly knowledgeable authors to take us under the hood in this four-part series. Join us on this trip across the web, into the often foggy valley between code and experience.

The `img` element remains one of the biggest challenges for website performance, especially in responsive designs. In this excerpt from Image Performance, Mat Marquis tells us why, but he also shines a light on the solution.

Semantic markup has always mattered, but with voice interfaces rapidly becoming the norm, it now matters more than ever. Aaron Gustafson shows us how simple HTML tags can have a huge impact with voice interfaces.

’Tis a gift to be simple. ALA’s Zeldman bemoans our industry’s current fetish for the needlessly complicated over the straightforward. Escape the cult of the complex! Get back to improving lives, one interaction at a time.

CSS Grid is here—and easier than you might expect. Eric Meyer shows us how to use Grid on an existing design without breaking things for non-grid browsers. With pictures! Also a couple of gotchas.

Email isn’t just evolving—it’s staging a coup. More and more designers are coming up with exciting new ways of bringing effects like animation and interactivity to the humble inbox. Crucially, for the first time, email client vendors like Microsoft and Google are listening to concerns voiced by email professionals. The web is leaking into the inbox, writes Jason Rodriguez. Don’t get left behind.

At least one set of crude hacks has left the building. With progressive and responsive enhancement—and using new CSS features—we can define how text should flow past a floated element. Eric Meyer explains what An Event Apart recently learned about floating shapes and feature queries.