Node.js for Web App Development

Node.js is an open source, cross-platform built on Chrome’s JavaScript runtime for fast and scalable server-side and networking applications. Being an interface to the V8 JavaScript runtime, it enables event-driven programming to the web servers through super-fast JavaScript interpreter that runs in the Chrome browser.

Node.js works on a non-blocking I/O model that makes it clean and usable, ideal for the data-intensive real-time applications that have to perform in varied environments. Beating the conventional pattern, Node.js has bought a revolution in the development circle and has become the sought after option for brands like Yahoo, eBay, Walmart etc.

Node.js empowers the organizations to create quick, robust network applications that can tackle parallel connections with increased throughput. It does not slow the working by any chance, but the developers need to be careful while writing the codes and the applications will get onto the right track.

Go With Data Streaming: This feature can be utilized to its fullest with Node.js to create some of the best attributes like processing files at the time of uploading time as this can reduce the overall processing duration when data comes in the form of streams. The same can also be deployed at the time of real-time video or audio recording.

The event-driven architecture caters to both the client-side and the server-side that are written in JavaScript and thus the synchronization process is fast and orderly. The event loop through web socket protocol which works on TCP handles the multi-user function and prevents the overhead of HTTP for web development.

Node.js has released it's version 10 and it's going under the codename “Dubnium”. It been over seven years since Node.js was released and it's their 7th major release.  Now let's jump into what's new in version 10, what's new features introduced and what they have deprecated in their new release! Releases in the Long Term Support line focus on Performance, security, stability, extended support and providing a reliable platform for applications of any scale.

Node.JS version 10 features and improvements

HTTP/2 is a higher performer than it's the previous version of HTTP. The implementation of HTTP/2 has landed in Node.js  v8.4.0(LTS) as an experimental feature. With Node v10 the HTTP 2 module has become a stable addition to the Node core for web applications and the web platform.

N-API is an API that allows developers to build native Add-ons. When JavaScript performance isn't enough for providing the performance boost to the codebase we used Node.JS Add-ons by providing an interface between JavaScript running in Node.js and C/C++ libraries. We can use that interface to build dynamically-linked shared objects in C++ that we can load into a Node.js application through a require() function.Add-ons is same as Node.js modules but offers a performance boost for computationally demanding applications when needed. 

Node.js V8 has been updated to it's version 6.6 in Node.js 10 with guaranteed forward ABI compatibility with V8 6.7. which comes with Chrome 66 and provides the reduction of around 20–40% in both parse and compilation time of JavaScript.Promise and async/await execution has improved significantly, resulting in Hapi v17 realizing a 30% increase in throughput. 

Node.js10 is the first release to include OpenSSL 1.x sets it up for an easy API and ABI stable upgrade after OpenSSL 1.1.1 released. Recent work by OpenSSL and the Core Infrastructure made it possible for Node.js 10 to really take advantage of OpenSSL including the ChaCha20 cipher and Polu1305 authenticator.

The problem is two module systems are not compatible so the Modules Team had to find a proper solution so JavaScript modules could be built on a platform to be used both in Node and in browsers. You could work this around using the module pattern, but it still wasn’t really convenient.

Node.js 10.0.0 has updated its NPM from v5.7 to v6.0. This major version increase in NPM provides an improvement in all areas including the focus on performance, security, and stability offering major performance boost compared to prior versions of NPM. 

New JavaScript language features introduced in node.js v10

1. Function.prototype.toString()

This method returns exact slices of source text which include whitespace and comments.

2. The function trimLeft() and trimRight() becomes aliases for the newly implemented String.prototype.trimStart() and String.prototype.trimEnd() to ensure backward compatibility

3. The catch clause of try statements no longer requires a parameter.

APIs deprecated in Node.js 10

1. Using require() to access several of Node.js own internal dependencies will emit a runtime deprecation.

2. Use of the tls.convertNPNProtocols() method will emit a runtime deprecation warning.

3. Previously deprecated legacy Async_hooks APIs have reached end-of-life and have been removed.4. Previously deprecated internal getters/setters on net.Server has reached end-of-life and has been removed.

Some advantages of using Node JS:

1.      Highly Scalable Server Side Soultion

2.      One language across the development stack.

3.      Best for real time apps like chat and games

4.      NodeJs is an open- source platform, so you can use it for free.

5.      It support multiple scripting language like Ruby, CoffeeScript, and TypeScript.

6.      Perfect for Microservices.

To summarize, Node.js is a cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment for servers and applications. It is built on a single-threaded, non-blocking event loop, the Google Chrome V8 JavaScript engine, and a low-level I/O API.

Web Design-New Features of HTML5

This industry moves fast—really fast! If you're not careful, you'll be left in its dust. So, if you're feeling a bit overwhelmed with the coming changes/updates in HTML5, use this as a primer of the things you must know.

The variety of new HTML5 tags allows the developers to write their code quicker and make it more dynamic. Some old HTML5 features were renewed into new ones, some were removed at all, and others were freshly made to help people create their websites in an easier manner.

Arnasoftech is Global Software Development Solutions Company that has build expertise in Web & Mobile Solutions. We have expertise in building web applications, desktop applications, custom software development, enterprise portals, mobile applications, and digital solutions. I’ve made a huge list of new HTML5 tags for you to learn and start using.

New features of HTML5

1. Video and Audio

Video and audio are the new tags which allow to embed a video in the website. YouTube also declare video embed by giving the code to embed for their videos. It helps the web to be more involved with multimedia. A new tag is also available in HTML5 and that is audio tag. Which is used to embed any audion in the web?

Example of using Video tag

<video controls preload>

    <source src="cohagenPhoneCall.ogv" type="video/ogg; codecs='vorbis, theora'" />

    <source src="cohagenPhoneCall.mp4" type="video/mp4; 'codecs='avc1.42E01E, mp4a.40.2'" />

    <p> Your browser is old. <a href="cohagenPhoneCall.mp4">Download this video instead.</a> </p>

</video>

Example of using Audio tag

<audio autoplay="autoplay" controls="controls">

 <source src="file.ogg" />

    <source src="file.mp3" />

    <a>Download this file.</a>

</audio> 

2. nav

The nav element is used for the part of a internet site that links to different pages at the website. The hyperlinks can be organized a number of approaches. below, the hyperlinks are displayed inside paragraph factors. An unordered list can also be used.

<nav>

  <a href="/html/">HTML</a>

  <a href="/css/">CSS</a>

  <a href="/js/">JavaScript</a>

  <a href="/jquery/">jQuery</a>

</nav>

3. Header

The header element can be used to institution collectively introductory factors on a website, such as a business enterprise brand, navigation objects, and occasionally, a search form.

<header>

  <img src="company-logo.png">

  <nav>

    <p><a href="login.html">Log In</a></p>

    <p><a href="signup.html">Sign Up</a></p>

    <p><a href="contact.html">Contact Us</a></p>

  </nav>

</header>

4. Canvas

canvas is a tag of HTML which is newly introduced in HTML5. It is used to draw the images on the fly. It can be used for visual images, rendering graphs, game graphics.

Example of canvas

<canvas id="myCanvas"></canvas>

<script>

var canvas = document.getElementById("myCanvas");

var ctx = canvas.getContext("2d");

ctx.fillStyle = "#FF0000";

ctx.fillRect(0, 0, 80, 80);

</script>

5. Footer

Footer is a tag, used to define the footer of a document or a section. Usually it contains the information about author and copyright etc. Address tag may be used to mark up the contact information in the footer.

A document or section can have more than one footer.   

<footer>

  <p>Posted by: Hege Refsnes</p>

  <p>Contact information: <a href="mailto:someone@example.com">

  someone@example.com</a>.</p>

</footer>

6. New types for input tags

input is an attribute which is an old attribute but in HTML, it is reintroduced with new values like email, month, number, range, search, tel, color, week, url, time, date, datetime-local etc.These are the new values which can be contain by the input tag.

·         ContentEditable

It is an attribute which is used to permit the user to edit the content. It creates What You See What You Get so easy. Content will be editable by clicking on it.

  

·         Progress

This tag is used to check the progress of a task during execution of that. Progress tag can used with the conjuction of JavaScript. It is like progress bar.

<progress value="22" max="100"></progress>

·         section

Section tag is used to divide a document or in parts or sections. For example: An article can have many sections like header, footer, latest news and section for main content etc.

·         main

main is a tag which is used to contain the main content of the page. More than one main tag is not accepted in the document and this tag can not be inside in article, aside, footer, header tags. It does not include the navigation bar, header and footer.

7. Email Inputs

If we apply a type of "email" to form inputs, we can instruct the browser to only allow strings that conform to a valid email address structure. That's right; built-in form validation will soon be here! We can't 100% rely on this just yet, for obvious reasons. In older browsers that do not understand this "email" type, they'll simply fall back to a regular textbox.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html lang="en">

<head>

    <meta charset="utf-8">

    <title>untitled</title>

</head>

<body>

    <form action="" method="get">

        <label for="email">Email:</label>

        <input id="email" name="email" type="email" />

        <button type="submit"> Submit Form </button>

    </form>

</body>

</html>

 8. Regular Expressions

How often have you found yourself writing some quickie regular expression to verify a particular textbox. Thanks to the new pattern attribute, we can insert a regular expression directly into our markup.

<form action="" method="post">

    <label for="username">Create a Username: </label>

    <input type="text"

       name="username"

       id="username"

       placeholder="4 <> 10"

       pattern="[A-Za-z]{4,10}"

       autofocus

       required>

    <button type="submit">Go </button>

</form>

If you're moderately familiar with regular expressions, you'll be aware that this pattern: [A-Za-z]{4,10}accepts only upper and lowercase letters. This string must also have a minimum of four characters, and a maximum of ten.

9. The Output Element

As you probably have guessed, the output element is used to display some sort of calculation. For example, if you'd like to display the coordinates of a mouse position, or the sum of a series of numbers, this data should be inserted into the output element.

As a simple example, let's insert the sum of two numbers into an empty output with JavaScript, when a submit button is pressed.

<form action="" method="get">

    <p> 

        10 + 5 = <output name="sum"></output> 

    </p>

    <button type="submit"> Calculate </button>

</form>

<script>

(function() {

    var f = document.forms[0];

    if ( typeof f['sum'] !== 'undefined' ) {

        f.addEventListener('submit', function(e) {

            f['sum'].value = 15;

            e.preventDefault();

        }, false);

    }

    else { alert('Your browser is not ready yet.'); }

})();

</script>

10. The Data Attribute

We now officially have support for custom attributes within all HTML elements. While, before, we could still get away with things like:

<h1 id=someId customAttribute=value> Thank you, Tony. </h1>

The validations would kick up a fuss! But now, as long as we preface our custom attribute with "data," we can officially use this method. If you've ever found yourself attaching important data to something like a class attribute, probably for JavaScript usage, this will come as a big help!

These are some of the new features which are introduced in the HTML5 version. There are many more features of HTML5 which are newly introduced. Features of HTML5 are supported by the latest versions of browsers. Thanks for reading! We've covered a lot, but have still only scratched the surface of what's possible with HTML5. I hope this served as a helpful primer!

Building a Responsive Web Application with Bootstrap Framework

Responsive design creates websites that automatically adjust to look good and function well on any size screen. From navigation and the way content is organized, to buttons and image scalability, responsive sites are not only designed to optimize the way people see a site, but also to prioritize what information mobile users are there to get.

Responsive websites are designed to work on any platform as it is a custom CSS style sheet that makes the website look great on any device. So, whether you’re accessing it from your PC, iPhone, Android or tablet, the website will format perfectly.

Responsive web approach requires less time and money is that just one development process allows your website to be viewed on most modern mobile browsers. Furthermore, your development team won’t need to adhere to any OS guidelines or permissions, as they are developing a website that isn’t distributed through the app stores.

Build Mobile Website with Bootstrap

One of the popular open source frameworks, Bootstrap is your best bet if you are planning to develop website for mobile devices. With its collection of HTML and CSS based design templates, it makes the development of essential interface components quite easy.      

The Bootstrap framework is an excellent choice for a few reasons.

Uniform and Modern Look with Style sheets:

Bootstrap provides LESS style sheets including various components which a developer can select for using in UI development. LESS files are good for those who are in the habit of CSS preprocessing but even for those who are not comfortable with LESS can even go for normal CSS files as well, because bootstrap also provides a set of CSS style sheets using which a developer can define the basic style for all the HTML elements. Hence, it’s easy to give a uniform and modern look to user interface of a mobile app using Bootstrap.

Easy to Use:

One can easily use the style sheets provided by Bootstrap to style up their app interface. Just download the style sheet files from Bootstrap’s website, unzip and include them in head of HTML files. That’s it. Now you are ready to access the Bootstrap framework for easy and efficient UI development.

Flexibility for Using Classes and Functions:

Bootstrap has predefined classes, several JavaScript functions and various CSS components that make UI development much easier. But a developer will have the complete freedom to select only those classes or functions that are required for his purpose.

Responsive Grid System:

Bootstrap provides a 12 column, responsive grid system that automatically adjusts to the screen resolution of the device of the user. Hence, developing a responsive user interface for your mobile app can be really easy by implementing bootstrap in the UI development process.

Useful Components for Better UI Design:

Bootstrap has got several useful components to provide for a user interface designer like it includes drop down menus, navigation bar component, menu, badges, lists, progress bar and much more. Hence, considerable amount of development time is reduced with these ready-made components which are not required to develop from scratch with Bootstrap. All you are required to do is to only include the right classes of the components as required.

JavaScript Plug-ins and Libraries for Use:

Bootstrap supports several JavaScript plug-INS to make UI development a much easier and better approach for a developer. There are several most commonly used classes included in JavaScript libraries of Bootstrap. One can implement these classes for rapid UI development. These include the tabs, pop over’s, tooltips etc.

A mobile-first, ground-up grid approach: Bootstrap gets designers to start small. If a site looks good on a small screen, it’s easy to scale it up from there, without things getting cluttered. A top-down approach in mobile design is counterintuitive; Bootstrap reinforces that, so sites stay clean and logical on the smallest screens. Bootstrap forces designers to build sites with small screens in mind, and then go from there. Bootstrap’s grid-based layout approach is the key: you can use up to 12 columns in a layout, combining them for wider columns, which are organized in layout classes—extra small, small, medium, and large for phone, tablet, and desktop-sized screens.

Many leading organizations have started using the bootstrap framework to create a responsive deign of their web sites.

The framework components are categorized as follows:

1.      CSS: Design related capabilities and provisions

            1.Grid System

            2.Typography

   3.Tables and so forth

2.      Components: Reusable controls or components

1.      Icons

2.      Navbar

3.      Button groups and the like

3.      JavaScript: Custom JQuery plugins

     1.      Transitions

2.      Modal and such

Bootstrap 3 is a mobile first framework. This means that the default target is mobile devices and will scale up from there. With the new Bootstrap 3 mobile first grid system creating the responsive and mobile friendly websites has become much easier. As opposed to previous version you don't need to include any additional style sheet to enable responsive feature. Bootstrap 3 is responsive and mobile friendly from the start. 

Bootstrap is one of the best available frameworks that offer you many great tools and resources in order to accelerate and speed up your application development process.

Arnasoftech is Global Software Development Solutions Company that has build expertise in Web & Mobile Solutions. Our core skills covers web application development with .NET core, ASP.NET MVC, C#, MEAN Stack, PHP, WordPress, IOS, Android, CSS3, HTML5, Bootstrap, SEO, Link Building.