Use Tables!

So, 3 days after barcamp ended, Google gave me official word that I’ve been accepted in the Google Summer of Code. I will be working to improve the JS Debugging experience in Mozilla Firefox, specifically for webdevelopers. In order to do so, I need input from the (other) people who debug their own javascript on a daily basis.

• What’s missing?
• What’s been done wrong? What’s been done exceptionally right?
• What tools do you use? Why?
• Do you use Venkman? Why, or why not?
• Do you use the MS Script debugger? Why, why not?
• Is either tool better than the other, and if so, why?
• What kind of problems do you spend the largest amount of time on, and how can a debugger help you change that (or at least shorten that amount of time)?

You can email me a response to those questions, but you can also comment on the tracking bug for my project, or on this blogpost. Thanks in advance!

So that’s it. Gone is XTech. Thanks a lot to the kind folks at Mozilla who let me go there and socialize and everything, and I’m hoping to see lots of you at Barcamp!

Right, so I’ll be visiting XTech in Amsterdam, thanks to the kind people at the Mozilla Foundation. If anyone wants to meet up, shoot me an email and we’ll see what to do about it.

While I’m at it, I am looking for people who debug or profile JavaScript/AJAX on a regular basis. The definition of debugging is specifically not just about using a debugger – alert()s, event logging, DOM Inspecting, it all counts. I would like to know:

• What kinds of problems you spend the most time debugging
• What software/tools you use to do so
• What annoys you about said software, or what new features you think would make your job easier
• What you like about the software you’re using, cool factors, etc.

You can drop a comment here, email me, talk to me on IRC (Hannibal on moznet, I tend to be on more than I should, if I’m not there you can use memoserv), or just harass me in person when XTech starts tomorrow. Comments are very much appreciated.

That’s right, Kubrick’s gone, and I’ve attempted to style the blog just like the rest of the site. I’ve tested it in Firefox 1.5.0.3, Opera 8.something and IE7. It works fine everywhere, as far as I can tell, except for IE which messes up and displays the sidebar on top of the content (instead of resizing content/sidebar properly) on lower resolutions (below 800×600). If someone has suggestions on how to fix that, they would be appreciated, but for now I’m done hacking on it. If you spot any other visual problems or whatever, please feel free to comment on those too.

Apologies for the lack of any real substance. It’ll hopefully get better soon. Or something .

Meanwhile, I just noticed I missed the deadline I’d set myself, since we’re stuck at 119 bugs filed for ChatZilla, and I still haven’t finished the damn message filter thing. Well, at least I have a usable build with the filter squirmed into __display, so I guess we’re going places. Hopefully.

Ah, also… if you check out my location, and use the Sattelite view, you’ll notice there’s blank land there. That’s because my home has only been there since July last year (though construction was underway before that, obviously) and the sattelite photos aren’t all that recent, apparently. If you scroll down a tiny bit though, you can spot a Russian sub in the harbour. No idea what it’s doing there, it’s been there since I first came here, and it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere soon.