I have a question. I really love Hype. But I need some basic questions answered. What are the limitations that I will have if I don’t know javascript? I’m thinking well I’m going to learn JavaScript so I can create some applications I can use in my classroom. Like the application my Forum Friend Mark Hunte created for me . But I’m starting to think that even if I learn JavaScript, what else do I need to learn so I can integrate it with Hype. Will I need to learn not only JS but a bunch of other languages or will I be able to get by with just JS? Or can I get away with just learning Hype and no JS and do everything just from within the timeline ?
And realistically how long is this going to take, before I can learn how to create an application like the one Mark made for me. Which is basically a screen that allows students to use as an electronic in/out bulletin board that shows whether a student is in or if they signed out. It also has a flashing green light to show that they are In or out and a time stamp .
Am I being realistic by thinking that if I learn JavaScript ( I learn fast but I have no programming experience whatsoever) I will be able to do this within a few months.
Please be honest and let me know if I’m just dreaming or what track should I be taking to accomplish this or eventhough I love Hype, maybe I should be learning another language and not use Hype at all. Attached is a screenshot of the app I am referring to.
Using just the timeline is limited. As I use Hype, I'm using JavaScript more and more. I'm using it so much now that I'm starting to wonder... why am I even using Hype? That's because Hype makes my job easier. It's tough to balance design and development. Hype has been great for turning around projects quickly, while learning web development.
I've been working professionally with creating websites / web pages since 1994. A lot has changed since then. Part of the challenge of being a good web developer / designer is the way the Internet has changed - and keeps changing.
Today... especially here - https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/top ...I see a lot of trendy technology. Angular.js, node.js, Ruby on Rails, etc, etc, etc... and a beginner might feel like they don't know enough to keep up. What do I do? I ignore it.
There's a lot of hate on PHP these days. I don't care. They're not paying my bills. About 23% of the world's websites run on WordPress. (While 23% may sound small, that's a huge number of websites.) That's easy to setup in a LAMP environment... Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP. Even a beginner can do it in a few hours. Drupal (about 2% of the web) is great for managing complex websites. Drupal is also LAMP friendly. Acquia (the commercial side of Drupal) has an installer to setup a local LAMP environment with the Acquia Dev Desktop... https://docs.acquia.com/dev-desktop2
The Mac server app is also a quick alternative for local development...
So, instead of chasing the flavor of the month, I've been working with popular open source software and web standards. HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Apache, MySQL, PHP. And of course, I like Hype.
Are you dreaming?
I've been working towards running my own arcade (modernized from Brick-and-mortar to an online arcade) for decades. With Flash dying, things got seriously messed things up. But with Hype, I can see the pieces snapping together. Yes, it's a lot to learn to make it happen...
Design (has to look pretty and be functional)
HTML5/CSS3 (One standard, but lots of browsers)
JavaScript (great programming language for the web)
PHP / MySQL (for database driven apps)
Apache (Common web server)
That's what I use pretty much every day. Sure, there's nginx, a ton of JavaScript libraries, and lots of other programming languages. I don't have enough time in the day to chase them all. So, I've focused on common and popular web tech.
Even after decades of experience, I still haven't been able to do something that's at a fairly moderate level of complexity. Part of it is just sitting down and getting it done. That's hard to do when other projects have higher priority. The other part is that it is challenging stuff.
So, should you give up on Hype? I found myself asking myself that question recently. More and more of what I do in Hype is requiring JavaScript. It's getting to the point where I don't even use the Timeline to get things done. Here's an example... Geometry question - #2 by Photics ...The arrow moves with pure JavaScript.
So why use Hype? For me, it's hard to balance design and development. Hype makes it easier to merge the two. I can turn around projects quickly with Hype. Also, I'm learning a lot more about JavaScript by working with Hype, Trying to make Hype a true replacement for Flash has made me a much better web developer.
Initially I think Hype was really aimed at animation and inserting them into existing websites.
But especially now people want to use it to create whole websites. It was the first thing I did when I first came across Hype. I had built a intranet site for my colleagues some years back with Dreamweaver.
When I discovered Hype (again a while back) I completely redesigned the site from the ground up using Hype alone.
When I say Hype alone I mean including using Javascript using the built in Function editor.
It is clear that the Guys at Tumult knew that all things cannot be done easily using Timelines alone. So they incorporated the use of Javascript.
That is your first Answer. I would advise you learn some Javascript to use within Hype. Hype in most cases makes creating a site a whole lot easier.
But I think you also need a foundation understanding of HTML, CSS and DOM Trees.
Gaining this will not take very long maybe a few months maybe much less. But for the basics not long at all.
My suggestion is that you look at the code academy link a gave you or similar sites.
It really does take you through the basics and will aid you in learning more advanced coding. It should also save you money on a tutor that I feel you do not need at this stage.
You should also look at Html & CSS ( on code academy also ) and how HTML DOM trees (Document Object Model ) work which are the structures of a web page and its elements and what you are looking to interact with JavaScript.
Once you have a good idea of the basics then you can think about a more advanced stuff which is just what syntax and commands to use and do’s and don’t’s. Thats why I can just research what I want to do if I am unsure, looking for commands that do or are close to what I want and then working out how to use them for my task.
Incidentally you will see a lot of JavaScript commands that starts with a $ sign. In most cases this is not strict JavaScript syntax and would not be understood by the JavaScript compiler. The syntax and commands with this are from a JavaScript library called jquery. Which is used to take out some of the grunt work of writing a lot of lines of JavaScript code to get some functionality and is imported as a library/plugin that allows you to use its syntax. Think of it as a JavaScript shorthand.
I mention this because if you are reading through other people’s code not knowing this will trip you up.
Jquery is the most common but there are thousands of plugins that can be used alongside normal JavaScript
Thank You so much for the explanation This really helped me understand Hype a little bit better. Now is there a set of commands that are not usually used in Javascript that I should know about. For example are there commands that tie the javascript coding with the hype elements so they can interact with each other? and where can I find those commands?
Is there a tutorial that explains the use of JS with the elements not a Generic tutorial on the timeline and how to make a ball move on the screen lol
