This blog is a CNET.com developer blog hosted by Aaron Newton. The purpose of this blog is to get those of us working here at CNET who are doing a lot of client-side (browser side) work using css and javascirpt to share our work.

This blog existed for several months as an internal-only resource, but eventually we realized that a lot of what we’re up to might be interesting to others out there, so we moved it outside our firewall.

Specifically, the idea is to share code, ideas, discoveries, links, and methodoligies in the hopes of consolidating some of our efforts. We also plan to share the javascript frameworks and classes that we author for others outside our network to make use of.
Code

Chunks of javascript, css hacks, or other things that we find about browser behaviors, etc, are likely to get posted.

Methods

Here at CNET we’re still discussing how to manage this code. We need to consider the user experience when they are downloading hundreds, even thousands, of lines of code just to use the page. How do we create a system that allows us to work and not duplicate effort, while at the same time enable the browser to only get the code it needs for the current context?

Discoveries

How many times have you figured out that IE doesn’t like a certain way of writing something? How many extentions to Firefox do you use to make your life easier? What other sites out there are doing really cool work that you find inspiring? Let’s share some of these things.

End game

Eventually our goal is to create common libraries of code, common methodoligies for documentation and implementation, and peer reviews for the client side work we’re all doing. We’ve gotten a great start but we have a lot more work to do.
About Me
Typically, I’m (Aaron Newton) the one doing the posting, but not always. If you have something to share, please post it!

I work in the CNET Product Managers group. I went to school for Jazz Guitar, and am a quick one to say that I’m a hack. I started in the .com thing when Mosaic was around while I was in colledge. I took some graphics courses and started building sites for the fun of it.

My first real job out of college was doing UI design for the web. In 1999 I founded a music web startup called epitonic.com (which, today, looks terrible - don’t judge me, I don’t have anything to do with it anymore) which, oddly enough, CNET funded. I was hired to come build Download.com’s Music site in Dec. 2003.

These days I end up doing a lot of experimental prototype work and working with various groups to help them include UI practices and clientside technologies into their development and product design.