Status Update
It’s been well over a month since the last official update to Master Space and Time with JavaScript, and since I was hoping to get updates out more-or-less weekly, it’s probably a good idea to check in and let you know what’s going on. (Could be worse, though, I’m still hoping to post my top 10 books I read list. From 2011.)
All of the MSTWJS customers out there have been either very patient in waiting for the next update, or you are completely disengaged. Personally, I’m choosing to assume patient.
I am continuing to work on the book, it’s just slowed down quite a bit. The next update will most likely be sometime after RailsConf — ideally sometime in the week or so following. So by, say, May 10th. I post this date publicly to increase the chance that I’ll actually hit it.
There are a few reasons why the book’s progress has slowed.
To some extent, it’s a deliberate slowdown so I don’t have to rewrite the thing a dozen times. Yes, Ember is in an API freeze, but they are still adding new things that preserve compatibility, and Ember-data is decidedly not in an API freeze. Just in the last week or so, integration testing tools are starting to emerge — see this discussion for details. Honestly, the fact that I had to throw my hands up over integration testing in the last update was very disappointing, and I’d very much like to get that working in the example.
There’s also been some fumbling about what I want to cover in the rest of the book and how I want to get there. This one, I think I’m getting a handle on.
I also got busy. For example, I’ve been starting this weekly sort-of-screecast series for Table XI called XI to eye. I’ve never done anything like it, but I’m pleased with how this is going. There are five so far, you can see them all at http://www.tablexi.com/blog/category/xi-to-eye. Please do check them out.
I’m also doing two sessions at RailsConf — a normal session comparing rich client MVC with the 37Signals Basecamp approach and an intro track session on testing complex systems. More on those next week, but I’m excited for both of them.
There’s also been some laziness, and some lack of momentum caused by the combination of the previous points.
Still, hoping that this will move a little more rapidly in May — we’re now coming on the two-year anniversary of me starting the project (though I suppose I’d be done if I hadn’t decided to pick up Ember as a topic), and I’m certainly ready to move on. (I have some idea what my upcoming writing projects will be, just not sure which one I want to tackle next.
Thanks for your patience, if you are enjoying the book more will be coming — there will also be another errata catch up on the first three books. Please do help spread the word, or maybe buy it yourself.