I like the sound of this book. I prefer the "surgical" use of Javascript. No big IE-only DHTML monstrosities, just small little changes.

Two examples:

Google is so minimalist that I'd assumed they didn't use any Javascript. Then I looked at the source code, and realized they are putting the focus on the search field, which just makes it that one bit faster.

Or take babelfish. You can either punch text directly in, or you can put in a URL. If you bring focus to either of the text fields, the respective radio button is selected for you.

Speaking of DHTML, looking at scrollable DHTML pages makes you appreciate the elegance of the scrollbar. In one device you can:

1) Scroll a small bit at a time.
2) Scroll a screenful at a time (possibly with some overlap)
3) Scroll all the way to the bottom and top of the document very rapidly.
4)Scroll up or down to an arbitrary place in a document.
5) Get a rough idea how long the document is.

With most DHTML scrollers, you get to scroll at one speed, possibly with a mouseover. Woo hoo.

I do dislike one thing about the Windows implementation of the scrollbar: Windows needs to set a higher minimum size for the face (raised area) of the scroll bar. I hate when it's incredibly small: I don't want to have to think about not missing the scrollbar when I'm trying to read something.

Don't reinvent the scrollbar!

Posted by: Chad Lundgren on May 1, 2002 03:11 PM