Ariya Hidayat: Improve Your (JavaScript)Kung Fu & Become Ultimate API Warrior

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• Do you know that one NaN will never equal to another NaN?

• Have you been trapped by Array’s slice vs splice?

• Aren’t you mad by the tedious DOM API such as initKeyEvent("keypress", true, true,null, null, false, false, false, false, 9, 0)?

• Can you ever figure out the difference between JavaScript’s String functions substring, substr, and slice?

Ariya Hidayat (http://ariya.ofilabs.com/), runs the PhantomJS (http://phantomjs.org/) and Esprima (http://esprima.org/) projects, and is VP of Engineering for Shape Security (https://www.shapesecurity.com/).

In this talk, he will show examples of API examples in real-world libraries & applications. To these challenges, we will apply the discipline of the ancient art of API Kung Fu:

• Ensure consistent naming via static polymorphism.
One must be constant, grasshopper.

• Avoid dangerous and unnecessary shortcuts.
A master is patient and thorough.

• Mitigate confusing semantics with a proper choice of words.
Clarity is central to API Kung Fu wisdom.