Beyond The Yellow Bubble

This may be just Kindergarten but our teacher gave us a pretty lengthy required reading list to work on now and for later when we continue on to first grade..  Apparently those of us intending to focus on developing XPages for the Notes client when 8.5.1 is release have been instructed to use the same reading list until we are told to do otherwise...  Those people who have already done a lot of Web development will probably have a lot of these already.  Notes client developers have a LOT of reading to do...

Kindergarten

1. HTML - XPages provides a number of great controls but there is still a lot missing.  Those gaps will often be plugged with you own HTML.  When debugging XPage output it will be essential to be able to read HTML.  A book that explains the differences in the way modern browsers interpret HTML would be especially useful.  There are many on-line resources that can also be used.
   
2. JavaScript - The native JavaScript language is used extensively to script client events.  This same language also provides the basic syntax for server sided JavaScript (SSJS).  Most of your code is going to be JavaScript based, so a mastery of this language is required.
   
3. Dojo - Dojo is the javascript library (framework) that comes with Domino 8.5 and is used as part of XPages.  Dojo extends the capabilities of JavaScript as a language as well as providing a range of widgets (dijits) that can add even more WOW to your XPage applications.  Unfortunately IBM provide very little documentation about Dojo in the Domino Designer help so a reference book is almost essential to get the most out of this technology.
   
4. CSS - Styling of your applications should largely be achieved through CSS.  This language is an art in itself and something each Notes developer needs to develop a thorough understanding if they wish to make their XPage applications attractive and reduce some of the cross-browser issues.  A text that also explains themes would be beneficial as themes are also supported by XPages.
   
5. Xpages - Only joking!  There are no books to be found on XPages.  The oinline help that comes with Domino Designer will leave you underwelmed.  There are a lot of blogs that give very good coverage on your options for Xpages.  These include Declans life, the universe,and everything Xpage tutorial, The Domino Developers wiki, theXpages wiki, and the Xpages Blog.  And don't miss David Leedy's great Notes At Nine videos.  Lets just hope a book gets written soon as this topic is very large and it is impossible to see have its millions of components can be coeverded in depth by anything less than a 500 Kg reference book.
6. SSJS - I have no idea where you may go to get a good understanding about SSJS.  A good knowledge of JavaScript is a start as well as a good working knowledge of Commands and either the COM or LotusScript product classes (NotesDocument etc).  Tim Tripcony as Lotus911 seems to know about as much about SSJS as anyone, so watch his blog closely for tips etc.
   

1st Grade

1. AJAX: XPages makes use of XJAX technology to facilitate asynchronous calls to the server for things such as partial refreshes.  In your 2nd year of XPage applications you may want to build a better understanding of AJAX to embark on bullding more advanced controls and functionality.
   
2. XML A some stage soon after graduating from kindergarten you are likely to be building applications in which data will be passed between data using XML.  A good working knowledge of XML and related technologies such as XPath and XSLT will be helpful.  Remember, at some stage soon XPages will probably allow you to define data sources that draw data from XML files directly.
   
3. JAVA: It seems to me that every time you have to dive off and do anything advanced with SSJS you end up making calls to Java or using instructions that look a lot like Java.  Having a good working knowledge of Java is going to help you out.  e.g. The process of invoking a Web service seems to rely on using some Java-specific components.
   

Note: No specific text books were prescribed.  It was suggested we use Amazon or similar resources to find popular texts.  In time I may get more specific about resources you may want to consider.  For now just find a reasonably good text on each subject.  Readers please feel free to comment on good choices that are above the pack or especially relevant to Notes/Domino...

For Dojo I can recommend the book - Dojo - The Definitive Guide by Matthew Russell (O'Reilly)

Happy Reading everyone....

I am constantly suprised that no matter how much I learn about Notes Development there seems to be so much more I still don't know.  In the past few days both Nathan Freeman and  Chris Blatnik posted some excellent articles on how to use style sheets to simulate the HTML Fieldset capability on a Notes client.  I had always thought  Style Sheet resources were the domain of Web application development only.  It never occured to me that these could be used to style a Notes client application...

 

So I have already been busy enhancing the UI for a number of forms in the .Domino Framework that utilize the tricks they have shown.  In doing so it also occured to me that it may in fact possible to build a Notes application in such a way that the look/feel can be customized to suit individual preferences.  

 

The .Domino Framework supports a User Preferences form/profile document in which each user can (now) select from a list of available skins.  Each supported skin is represented by a Style Sheet, and an associated subform that contains this style sheet.  Various forms in the .Domino Framework can now include a computed subform that is based upon the user's preferred skin.  And voila the look/feel of the form reflects the user's preferred skin.

 

As best as I can tell a great many Notes Design elements still do not get effected by Style Sheets so this is a at best a partial solution.  The application skinning feature is still needed to apply a base theme to an application (views, embedded outlines etc.) At least now I can provide some flexibility how some aspects of the application look/feel.