Single Page Apps Course : Part 4 at VersionOne

Our sponsor Pluralsight has a very hot course right now:Single Page Apps with HTML5, Web API, Knockout and jQuery (http://www.pluralsight.com/training/Courses/TableOfContents/spa), taught by John Papa (http://johnpapa.net/building-single-page-apps-with-knockout-jquery-and-web-api-ndash-the-story-begins). Here's an intro video on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AsmCs96UU4&feature=player_embedded):

ALSO: Vote for the next Pluralsight topic here! (https://www.meetup.com/AtlAltDotNet/polls/644312/)

Let's take advantage of our Pluralsight benefits and study the course over a few weeks, then gather for beer and fellowship and open discussion on what we've learned.

Course Viewing Sessions at VersionOne:

The plan is simple:

1. We'll start viewing about 6:05, and will take 5 minutes in between modules to discuss

2. We'll view the lessons at 1.5+ playback speed to reduce the time.

3. This leaves about 10 to 15 minutes at the end to discuss and socialize.

4. Beer's in the fridge!

We will also make it available over GoToMeeting for remote viewing. (stay tuned for details on this page)

I have a pro subscription to pluralsight, so we can view the code itself too.

Viewing Sessions Schedule:

Thu Oct 18: (This session)

Navigation, Transitions, Storage, and Messaging Saving, Change Tracking and Validation Mobility and Responsive Design with CSS and LESS

Tuesday Oct 23:

Social gathering at Manuel's Tavern in Eagle's Nest Room (far left corner up the stairs)

Learn More About Single Page Applications:

Here's an excerpt from John's blog post introducing the course:

What is a SPA?

In short, there is a great wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-page_application) that explains what a SPA is, some ways to create a SPA (there is not just one cut and dry way), and some pros and cons. Definitely check it out. My cliff notes, that I include in the course, are that a SPA is a web app that fits on a single web page that provides a fluid user experience. A SPA is fully (or close) loaded on the initial page load, it’s key resources are preloaded, and progressively downloads features as required. A SPA may also persist and maintain important state on the client while also handling navigation, history and deep linking. A great examples of a SPA is gmail.

What’s the point?

The user experience is key. If you can speed up the perception of page loads and navigation for the user, you win. A SPA preloads what the user may most oft use, so when they navigate they are not making network trips and page reloads on those oft used features. Thus the result is a snappy app and a happy user.

More Links on SPAs:

Presentation: Building Single Page Apps for desktop, mobile and tablet with ASP.NET MVC 4 (http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechDays/Techdays-2012-the-Netherlands/2159) (Steve Sanderson!)

Presentation: Single Page Apps and the Future of History (http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Single-Page-Apps)

Manifesto: The Single Page Interface Manifesto (http://itsnat.sourceforge.net/php/spim/spi_manifesto_en.php)

Early Access Book: Single Page Web Applications (http://www.manning.com/mikowski/) (Don't forget your 36% Manning discount!)

Article: Single Apps with Backbone.js (http://blog.sendhub.com/post/19349219519/single-page-web-apps-with-backbone-js)