Show HN: BackboneScreencasts.com | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: BackboneScreencasts.com

joeybeninghove.com

I've been trying to get into using Backbone for a while, but I've been frustrated by the lack of resources - the official docs are essentially just a lengthy reference and an extremely basic Todos demo, neither or which has been all that helpful in getting normal app started. I'm excited to try out this screencast :)

The Backbone.js homepage assumes that you're somewhat familiar with building JavaScript-heavy web applications ... I can see how it would be lacking if you're coming at it fresh.

Would you like to see an official tutorial listed on that page, or would a screencast be better? Doing a section linking out to all of the third-party tutorials is another option.

A good official tutorial would be fantastic, one that walked through something with a little more complexity than the basic to-dos demo. It's not that the official docs are particularly hard-to-read, it's just that it's very much a reference that doesn't give you a good place to start or "big picture" overview.

This is a great step by step tutorial leading to the Todos example. http://arturadib.com/hello-backbonejs/

Including it or something similar would be beneficial for beginners. As someone else mentioned, an official collection of good tutorials will be really helpful.

Yes, please! Any form of official tutorial would be welcome. And indeed, if you could "endorse" high-quality tutorials by linking to them it would be great.

I would always rather see a text tutorial than a screencast.

FYI, there are a few other resources kicking around too. Thanks to OP for another.

http://peepcode.com/products/backbone-js http://peepcode.com/products/backbone-ii

http://workshops.thoughtbot.com/backbone-js-on-rails

I'll second the Peepcode screencasts, they worked really well for me.

Awesome, I really hope it helps you out! And don't hesitate to ask me any follow up questions as well. :)

I agree. Documentation and a simple example isn't enough. I look forward to going through the material.

I really like the "live" style of these screencasts. It seems almost like I'm pair programming. I appreciate the polished feel of screencasts like the RailsCasts, but this feels more... real somehow.

Great compliment! That is the exact type of experience I'm hoping to bring with both these screencasts as well as CastingCode.tv. I know I really enjoy sitting down and pairing with folks myself, so I really hope I can bring a similar experience with these types of screencasts and live coding events.

Thanks!

Not going to be cheap enough to do a plug here ;-) but I had exactly the same comment from someone about 1.9 Walkthrough today (that is, warts and all live coding with only minor editing). So perhaps there are legs to this approach! :-)

I'd be interested to see what value this adds compared to the documentation and existing (free) blog posts on it's use. IMHO Backbone's docs are super friendly and if you're really wondering what's going on under the covers the source code is relatively easy to jump into and understand (assuming you're a javascript programmer not a jQuery hacker)

I agree about the Backbone.js docs being quite awesome. I think they get a bad wrap myself. But I've also found that some folks like the option of watching screencasts to learn about certain topics as well.

I kind of fall into both categories. I really like reading the docs (and more importantly, the code itself) as well as watching someone demonstrate certain topics. I guess I'm weird like that. :)

The Backbone source code is concise and well documented. If you feel like you've hit a wall, it might be worth your while to read through it.

Check it out at http://documentcloud.github.com/backbone/docs/backbone.html

I started playing with backbone.js and stumbled upon your other intro video where you explained the basics. Combined with the docs and another example, it was pretty helpful for me to get started. Thanks for that and I will try this screencast as i move ahead.

You're very welcome. Really hope this new one is a help for you too! Let me know if you have any other questions about the code. Thanks!

Hi Joey, I remember watching a screencast by you on the same topic (linked from HN) a few weeks ago. Is this a different video?

Yes, the one you probably watched a few weeks ago was one that I published a couple months ago which just gave a basic introduction and only covered the Views aspect of Backbone.js.

This new one I just published a couple days ago, and it's a longer screencast that demonstrates how to build a complete Backbone.js application from the ground up, using a live coding format. All major aspects of Backbone.js are covered including Views, Routers, Models/Collections, Templating, etc.

Hope that helps.

This is cool but do they all have your face on the bottom corner?

Haha, I know. I have an ugly mug for sure. :) That's always been kind of my style for screencasting in general. I think it gives it a nice personal feel. But would you rather have the option of just seeing the code without the live video?

Not that it's ugly, its just distracting from the code, also it takes up screen real estate. Just my 2 cents, if that's your style, go with it.

Thanks man. That's great feedback. Perhaps I could play around with the sizing of the video a bit. I try to keep it out of the way of the code so that it doesn't overlap too bad.

My straw polls (or "market research" if I ever needed to big it up ;-)) showed a general dislike (though not strongly) for live video throughout a screencast but including portions was OK. That said, everything Gregg Pollack does seems to have him in it the whole time, and he's doing OK ;-)

I avoid it mostly because it adds overhead to the file size. You can crunch down a screen / presentation only screencast to pretty incredible sizes with H264 but as soon as you mix in live video, you either need to sacrifice its quality severely or put up with large files.

I've found the same thing. Solid colors of a screen capture can easily compress to under 200 MB for 60 minutes of video, but live action (even with only small movements) can double or triple that in size.

Yep, I've known about the file size issue when including live video, but it's something that I'm willing to continue experimenting with. One of my main reasons for including live video in my own screencasts is because I myself enjoy watching ones that have it. So, I guess you could say I'm doing it because it's something I enjoy. I'm hoping others will like it as well. :)

What about making an actual screencasting site where someone can turn the live video on and off in JS?

Agree, KhanAcademy style is less distracting. A voice that addresses to one person is enough for a personal touch for the listener.

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