Category: Test Drive a Web Development Tank

Unlike HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which are processed on the front end (the client computer), PHP is processed on the server (the back end). Rather than making updates once the page has gotten to the client’s computer, like JavaScript, PHP dynamically creates the HTML page on the server, and then sends it to the browser.... Read More

Undead Objects JavaScript is an object-oriented language, but differently so than other, more “classically” object-oriented languages, like C, C++, Java, C#, and so on. For JavaScript, an object is an encapsulation. It takes a thing and sort of builds it in code, keeping track of information about the object (properties) and things the object can... Read More

Shaping the Undead CSS shapes allow you to cut different shapes out of text to illustrate a point or to allow more interesting layouts. It doesn’t draw or create shapes—it flows text around them. The element you’re creating the shape around must be floated either right or left, and the text only flows around it... Read More

Dividing the Horde (into Columns) CSS columns are a simple way to add flexible text columns to your pages. This is useful when using responsive design because the width of your container element can change. Manual solutions require that the text be a certain length and stay in one element, artificially splitting the text into... Read More

Transitioning to Zombiehood The place to start in CSS animation is with transitions. A zombie infection transitions a property from one state (human) to a second state (zombie). In CSS, transitions can generally animate any mathematical value, such as a width or even a color. The easiest way to start working with animations/transitions is to... Read More

To understand the zombie-smashing power of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVGs), you need to know the difference between vector and raster graphics. You’re probably familiar with raster graphics—even if you’ve never heard the word “raster”. These graphics use small individual dots (pixels) to create an image. With lots and lots of small dots, you can get... Read More

Reducing What’s Sent to the User Gzip Resources Most, if not all, servers can deliver content that is compressed into a smaller file size. Gzip is a compression algorithm that takes the files that are part of your website and smushes (technical term) them. It’s like sending a zombie horde through a gate. The horde... Read More

Search Engine Optimization Search engine optimization is a zombie-fighting profession unto itself. The majority of the work is finding the keywords that describe your product/service/thing and sprinkling them throughout your pages, plus removing anything that makes it harder for search engines to read your page. This book lays out a base level of how search... Read More

Buckets and Buckets of Zombie Guts One of the first things to understand is a concept called variables. Variables are like buckets you store things in. You can put water in a bucket or your lunch or a mannequin head or the rookie cards of the 2037 Los Angeles Zombie-Dodgers Human Resistance Cell. You can... Read More

Bringing a Toothpick to a Web Fight I know you think that you kill zombies with a nice baseball bat to the brainpan, but that’s all Hollywood smoke and mirrors. What really stops the zombie hordes is websites. Websites communicate information, entertainment, inspiration, art, beauty, and all that is good in humanity’s soul—everything zombies hate.... Read More

You know something about websites, do you? Already conquered that “HTML” thang, huh? Got a grasp on CSS? Good. Well did you know that a properly formed website could beat the unliving tar out of a horde of the undead? Did you know that websites accounted for ninety-seven percent of zombie second-deaths in the last... Read More

While you won’t need a deep understanding of HTML in order to stop the zombie hordes with this book, you will need to know at least the basics of how an HTML tag works, understand attributes, and be familiar with the most used tags. If you’re feeling like you’ve arrived at the zombie fight with... Read More

Useful Zombies You can’t put the kibosh on zombies as a web developer without knowing some code, but you also have to understand how a user will approach your website. We’re so used to looking at websites that we often take for granted the little things that make them easy to navigate and smack zombies... Read More

You can be forgiven for not knowing this. The news and movies and media tell you that shotguns and baseball bats are the way to kill zombies, but that’s not true. Violence and gore sell films, but websites are the path to infinite knowledge and having the world at your fingertips. That’s how you fight... Read More

You’ve seen zombies on TV and the Internet before, but I bet you also saw people hitting them with baseball bats or using shotguns. I’m here to tell you, the only real way to kill zombies is with websites. Crazy, you wonder? Yes. Crazy true. Like my grandmother used to say, “The only way to... Read More