gistfile1.txt

A. New Movement in Browser Applications
  a. Browsers getting better (Thanks MS!)
  b. you can start considering the browser a legit environment
     for client application development 
     not just a handy rendering device for documents created by
     a robot in realtime on request (kindle photo)
     no Flash, JavaApplets, Silverlight required!
  c. Bar already raised: customer, client expectations going up:
    i. facebook
    ii. gmail
    iii. rdio
    iv. zendesk
    v. square
    vi. wunderlist
  d. CRAZY FUTURE: windows 8, chromeOS, games! http://vim-adventures.com/ crafty.js
    
B. Patterns
  a. Web Applications before-Rails
     i. PHP
     ii. intermixed view, template, and business logic
     iii. best case, business logic split out into helper functions
     iv. Java applets?
     v. Perl cgi-bin
  b. Web Applications after Rails
     i. MVC, not new, not new to web apps, but became prominent in a big way
     ii. fat-model
     iii. REST
  c. The value of patterns
     i. organizes thought
     ii. organizes communication, even just with yourself 
     iii. removes trivial decisions (and on teams, trivial arguments)
  d. Our current patterns suck for building rdio-quality apps.
     i. they're great patterns for the DOM. Nobody sane person would arge that we should abandon
        separation of concerns and go back to onclick="alert('my life is a living hell')"
        or that progressive enhancement/graceful degradation are bad ideas for a
        rich document
  e. But we're building something new.
  
  
C. Browser Apps
  a. "browser app" coin a term - client app that targets the browser as an environment.
    i. we can't use "web app" because that just means too much. Perennial problem of tech.
  b. more in common with other client engineering environments (mobile: iOS/Andorid, desktop: Mac, Windows)
     than with "a page"
  c. Essentially taking advantage of a universally installed, internet connected, box-drawing toolset

D. Browser App Patterns - Just one I want to cover today, Ember has it: SMs
  a. What is a state machine?
    i. formal structure and language for organizing and describing complex systems as a series of states
    ii. changes betweens states occur via actions
    iii. only on currents state possible
    iv. nested sets of states allow of nuanced expression
    v. turnstile  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finite-state_machine
  b. Understanding Applications as a series of states, central pattern to Ember.
    i. states (nouns)
    ii. actions (verbs)
    iii. view hierarchy
    iv. {{outlet}} - section of view hierarchy filled in response to a state change 
  
E. Bank Simple    
  initial state: activity
    app template outlets:
      at-a-glance
      main
        - initially filled with transactions
      more info
        - initially filled with messages
  click on a transaction
    transition to showing a single transition
       more info
        - filled with a single transaction
    click on 'edit'
      transition to editing a single transaction
        click 'save', click 'save this transaction'
          commit changes
          transition back to initial state
          as a result the view hierarchy matches that state
        click 'cancel',  click 'x'
          transition back to initial state
          as a result the view hierarchy matches that state