While doing a search on best practices for storing jQuery objects into variables, I got a little sidetracked into more general best practices articles. One of the tips by Greg Franko had me scratching my head. The syntax wasn’t immediately clear and the comments, both in the code and outside of it, wasn’t particularly helpful, either.

Sometimes, I feel like Microsoft tends to make things more complicated than necessary. I’m sure there were good intentions with ASP.NET’s architecture, but after spending some time reading about the page life cycle, various server controls, and a bunch of other stuff, I want to toss it all in the air. This also goes back to my initial issue of finding how to properly integrate JavaScript into an ASP.NET app.

If anything, ASP.NET does a fantastic job of separating client-side from server-side, so much so that it’s difficult to set a good practice of integrating JavaScript onto an ASP.NET page. I feel quite dirty trying to integrate AJAX functionality because I have to balance server controls with raw HTML. Server controls don’t talk nicely to JavaScript except through an attribute (e.g., OnClientClick).

After spending so much time with my HTML5/jQuery personal projects this year, it felt like I ran into a rather solid wall when I re-entered the working world. Building on my previous problem of going from an ASP.NET server control to a JavaScript function through a click event, I have a more general problem of how to use JS/jQuery properly with ASP.NET server controls.

I’ve been learning a few things–mainly quirks–since I finally got Visual Studio installed on my machine at work. To fill up the lack of Visual Studio, I coded mockups in HTML and started going through my ASP.NET reference book. It’s always interesting when there’s “coincidental timing.” In this case, I had read about the strange way that ASP.NET will rename HTML ids and how this can be frustrating when trying to integrate JavaScript with the page. The next morning, I ran into this very same problem.

I’ve been in a little bit of a coding slump and rather than push myself through it, I gave myself a break and did some other things like playing copious amounts of Fire Emblem. I came back this week with the intent to build another Thai Suite app (vocab “flashcards”), but ran into a roadblock when extracting a SQLite table to CSV so I could import it into Excel and run my handy script to get the JavaScript code I need. I’m using SQLite Database Browser (the PortableApps version) and while it exports to a .sql file, it had troubles exporting the Thai words to .csv. I even tried setting the encoding in the resulting text file to UTF-8, but that was no avail. So, I coded up a small program to extract that column and learned that the console doesn’t support characters other than what the code page supports (setting Console.Encoding to UTF-8 resulted in some interesting gibberish). Long story short, writing to a text file, which was my goal anyway, solved the problem. Getting there is the more interesting part.

I’ve been playing Plants vs. Zombies 2 (PvZ2) for the past week. The free-to-play model has been implemented well, as others have commented on, and I had a good time reacquainting myself with familiar plants and meeting new ones. But, the past couple of days, my interest dropped sharply and it’s not because I feel the pressure of needing to buy things using real cash, but rather the challenges feel quite repetitive. Couple that with consistent losses, an OCD-like habit to restart when I know I’m going to lose the game (or challenge), and I’m just tired of loading it up. Nonetheless, PvZ2 is a good sequel to the original and provides a decent amount of enjoyment until you hit that wall of [insert appropriate noun-of-choice here].

One of the exciting things with coding smaller apps is when they start having a life of their own and demand new, sibling apps to be created. What makes it even sweeter is when the apps also have the potential for learning in quick bursts that can be easily loaded up throughout the day. Sort of hammering home the concept that memorizing is better done in small bits of time sprinkled over a larger amount of time vs. cramming in a short amount of time.

In my previous coding post, I had a brief interlude in which I explained how I set up my JavaScript game files. I decided to put my game project on hold in favor of developing additional apps for my Thai Apps suite (see Thai Sorting (Alphabetical), Thai Sorting (Classes), and Maanii Sentences) and realized it was the perfect testing ground for my dynamic namespacing idea. I’ll briefly summarize again how I divided up my files and some of the theory behind it, then I’ll go into a little more detail in how it all works together.

Little Inferno is a game created by the same group who brought World of Goo to the indie library. There is an ironic/meta message in playing Little Inferno, suggesting that games are not just superficial modes of entertainment, but also art forms that carry significant messages. I am awaiting the day when there are the “classics” required by high school students to play and analyze, similar to the way books and plays are read and analyzed in English Literature period. But let me wax less philosophical and more practical in this review.

Another grab-bag review post. When I’m not busy coding or taking care of other business, I’ve been sampling a few games at a time. On the PC-side, I finished Samorost 2 and attempted Cortex Command. I’ll also briefly recollect my experience playing Aquaria from a couple of years ago. On the iOS-side, I’ve touched a bit on Rune Gems, Water?, Block Jungle, Badlands, and one that’s not quite a game, but is interesting nevertheless, ARTREE.

I wanted to write this post a little sooner, but I had a more pressing priority to deal with and writing this wasn’t even an option for procrastination purposes. Therefore, I’m breaking my usual one-game-per-post review and mashing them all into this single post. I’m hoping I won’t forget any games I’ve sampled over the past couple of weeks (another break in my typical one-week trial). On the PC-front, I’ve sampled Osmos and Penumbra. On the iOS-front, I’ve sampled Power of Logic, Tiny Wings, Amazing Breaker, Stay Alight!, Infinity Blade II, Last Temple 2, Mirror’s Edge, and Liquid Sketch.