web-related articles 2009

Writing on the web requires you to know the difference between belief and understanding. You have to believe what you write is the best on the web, but you also need to understand that there are countless others writing more interesting stuff than you do. So repeating last year's concept, here's my list of the most interesting web-related events and articles of 2009. The stuff that stuck out and remained with me for longer than 15 minutes.

10. The Ever-Evolving Arrow: Universal Control Symbol

A very broad and in-depth article about something very simple. The arrow symbol. One of the cornerstones of the web that often goes by unnoticed. Which is why I loved the idea behind this article. A refreshingly in-depth glance at the seemingly normal.

Read the article: The Ever-Evolving Arrow: Universal Control Symbol

09. Internet Explorer 8

There have been a couple of major version updates for most browsers this year. But IE8 is the one with the biggest impact. For the first time since I've been involved in web development browser checks in 1 specific IE browser won't take me longer than checking Opera, Chrome or Safari. If you're still using IE6 or IE7, switch now!

Check the link: Internet Explorer 8

08. Digg takes the time to study the pain of IE 6

We've been staring at the stats for more than two years now. IE6 is still around and many of us wondered why. Digg took initiative and launched a little study among its users. The results were very interesting indeed.

Read the article: Digg takes the time to study the pain of IE 6

07. When can I use ...

So many browser versions, so many changes to the existing technologies. Ever wondered when you could finally start using a certain technique cross-browser? This little site helps you (plenty) in determining whether a feature is ready for use or not, and who's holding it back from going global.

Check the site: When can I use ...

06. There is no page fold

Countless blog posts have been spent on discussing the page fold. This little page illustrates perfectly well why these discussions are somewhat pointless. People scroll. Don't believe me? Try it out for yourself. Then show it to your clients.

Check the site: There is no page fold

05. Font Squirrel: @font-face toolkit

@font-face is one of the big breakthroughs of 2009. We aren't there yet, but there are solid implementations for each browsers so we can finally start using web fonts. Apart from some legal issues (which are serious), the world of web is ready. Font Squirrel is the perfect web tool for helping you out with all the different implementations.

Check the site: Font Squirrel: @font-face toolkit

04. HTML5 and The Future of the Web

2009 is the year of html5. Not quite ready yet, but web developers are starting to experiment away. Some very minor groups can't benefit from the new specs yet, but for the majority of the web the basics of html5 are ready to use. Be sure not to miss the boat.

Read the article: HTML5 and The Future of the Web

03. Working With RGBA Colour

A very lovely feature erasing all issues with transparency in the blink of an eye. Of course not supported in all browsers, though working very well in most modern versions. No more transparent text, no more transparent single-color pngs. Way of the future.

Read the article: Working With RGBA Colour

02. The 3 Basic Rules for Writing HTML

I've been spending lots of time digging to get to the core of html. And Mr Meiert wrote a very interesting article about the most basic rules of writing html. A little concise and open to erroneous interpretation, but this article does hit the mark. A good starting point for everyone getting serious about html.

Read the article: The 3 Basic Rules for Writing HTML

01. The HTML5 section element

The one that blew me away. The impact of the section elemnet on how we'll use headings is enormous, pretty much messing up a very important part of SEO optimization. I predict this will become a "big thing" for us web developers. A powerful new feature, but one that will require some adapting no doubt.

Read the article: The HTML5 section element