In Depth: Speed up your coding using quick and easy JavaScript
JavaScript has had a bit of a bad reputation historically. How bad? Well, to be frank, the kind that left developers wanting to pummel it into the middle of next week. But times have changed. JavaScript is once again the cool kid on the block.
A lot of this revived interest has come about because of JavaScript libraries and frameworks. jQuery was first released in January 2006, and was followed just days later by Prototype. The next four to five years saw a number of new libraries and frameworks, each fighting for their place in the developer's pencil case.
As each new piece of software became faster and faster, outpacing the others in SlickSpeed tests, JavaScript steadily became a utility that the professionals could rely on without any worry.
The reason JavaScript had earned itself such a poor name over the years since its 1995 release wasn't entirely because it was a bad language. The real problems lay with the DOM, which wasn't called the DOM back then.
The browsers implemented what we know as the DOM today in different ways. There were often, and still are, bugs when interacting with the DOM. Out of all the performance problems in JavaScript, working with (that is, manipulating or reading) the DOM is at the top for being the one to avoid or minimise. The standardisation of the DOM has helped hugely in this regard, but as any decent developer knows, Internet Explorer isn't one to follow the pack.
Only now, in the year 2010, does the unreleased IE9 finally support addEventListener, a fairly basic requirement when working with the DOM. This is where JavaScript frameworks really produced the silver bullet. They plugged the gaps that were left wide open by the browsers. Nobody likes dealing with repetitive, stupid browser bugs, so if a framework can do the donkey work for you, it means you get more time on the interesting part: the real problem solving.
The big boys
There are five major players in the world of JavaScript frameworks – or libraries, depending on your choice of phraseology (Wikipedia reckons they're the same thing, but not all developers in the community agree on this). Either way, the big boys are jQuery, Prototype, YUI, Dojo and MooTools.
If you haven't heard of them, you've probably been hiding under a large JavaScript-shaped rock, and trust me, you've been missing out.
These market leaders have a few important things in common: Solid cross-browser support, particularly for older browsers (read as IE6). A core team of developers who know their stuff but also work in the open. Open licences, which enable the developers to put the projects to use in both private and commercial environments. Active communities behind the ventures. Functionality that can be extended if required.
Despite this common ground, though, they all cover the fundamentals of web development in their own way. For example, jQuery is the strongest at DOM manipulation, and also offers a way to create any custom effect and a range of simple to powerful Ajax methods.
Prototype, meanwhile, is a JavaScript language library that extends the feature set of JavaScript but still includes a way to manipulate the DOM.
YUI seems to offer everything but the kitchen sink. It includes the basics of DOM manipulation and event handlers, but is also blessed by having a huge host of utilities available to it, ranging from internationalisation to history management and animation. What makes YUI special is its ability to load the utilities during runtime, so you don't have to download the entire collection of them as a visitor.
Dojo is akin to enterprise level JavaScript applications, and its homepage shows off how IBM, Cisco and Sun are among those who've chosen to make good use of it. Indeed, Dojo's documentation demonstrates how accessible the toolkit is via the ARIA support it provides.
Of course, you can use each of these tools for any number of tasks: there's nothing stopping you using Dojo to do simple DOM manipulation, and Ajax or jQuery for large-scale, complicated, wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am applications. You can combine tools as you see fit; that's your prerogative.
Generally, though, you want to use the best tool for the job, so it's wise to always consider your options.
Widen the net
If you're starting a project from scratch and know that including a JavaScript library or framework is going to save you time and therefore money, then you have the advantage of being able to shop around for the perfect candidate.
Along with the aforementioned 'big five', there are also a number of other tools that you might consider. They have similar qualities, but may be newer, or have licences that don't allow the projects to travel as far.
For example, Sencha, formerly known as Ext JS, is good for forming really rich interfaces. It has a complete set of modules for creating applications, and examples range from feed viewers and web desktops to Sencha's complete API documentation, built with its own library.
Some years ago, I used Ext JS during a review of frameworks that would suit our business. Back then, the documentation was still relatively tough to work with, so it wasn't the best experience for me, but it may well suit your needs, and it looks pretty too.
Google's Closure is the latest framework to be released with a fanfare behind it. It's an annoying naming decision by Google; we already have Prototype, which makes it nearly impossible to search for information about JavaScript prototypes, and now Closure will make things no fun at all for beginners searching for how JavaScript closures work.
But what it does have going for it are its templating system and developer tools, in particular the Closure Compiler, which is currently the best compression tool available for JavaScript.
UI frameworks
We've already looked at YUI, which provides a great deal of UI widgets, and I've mentioned JavaScript, forcing you down a strict model/view/controller route, but that's not particularly a bad thing. The end result is an extremely polished web application framework that includes all the typical desktop application widgets you'd expect to feel, for want of a better word, 'application-y'.
A simple validation of this is that the text generated by SproutCore isn't selectable by default, something we've come to expect when we're surfing the web and clicking around the page. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? You decide.
One thing I'm not too keen on is SproutCore's reliance on JavaScript. It's definitely not a framework for lovers of progressive enhancement. Originally, MobileMe released with a completely blank page if JavaScript was turned off. If you choose to use SproutCore, you'll want to cover users visiting with disabled JavaScript, at the very least.
There are no doubt many more UI frameworks out there, so keep your eyes peeled.
Specialists
The libraries and frameworks we've looked at so far offer generic tools and will solve the majority of a web developer's problems. But although they each have their strengths, none of them are particularly specialised.
Specialist libraries do one job really well. There are lots of projects on the web, and the list isn't getting any shorter, so I'll just introduce you to two of the best drawing frameworks out there.
Processing.js by John Resig, aka Mr jQuery, is a JavaScript port of the Processing language often used for visualisations and animations. Processing.js enables an author to write using the actual Processing language in a script tag, using application or processing as the type attribute. The framework will also render an HTML5 canvas animation that's constantly running the draw method.
There are countless demos showing what's possible with Processing.js, and there's even a site dedicated to HasCanvas demos, showcasing everything that's been saved and played with.
One tiny word of warning: Processing.js looks a lot like Java. Although there's a lot of crossover between the syntactical styles of Java and JavaScript, you may have to dust off the old Java books on the shelves to remember how to create classes and such non-JavaScript nonsense. Otherwise, it's a powerful framework for leveraging the drawing power of the HTML5 canvas element.
Raphaël is another drawing framework but goes in a different direction, using SVG to achieve its drawing effects. In fact, Raphaël may be one of the reasons that SVG has captured so many JavaScripters' attentions over the last year.
To get around Internet Explorer's lack of SVG support (though it's coming in IE9), Raphaël employs VML to produce the same effects in IE6 and upwards, giving it full cross-browser support. A great number of animation demos have been written using the HTML5 canvas when they should have used SVG, and Raphaël is an absolutely superb framework for achieving that.
Indeed, using Raphaël, the JavaScript to achieve a simple but impressive effect is rather similar to jQuery:
paper.circle(320, 240, 60).animate({ fill: "#223fa3", stroke: "#000", "stroke-width": 80, "stroke-opacity": 0.5 }, 2000);
Micro-libraries
Since libraries such as jQuery and Prototype have become a standard web developer's utility, we've seen a rise in micro-libraries. In fairness, this is how libraries were delivered back in the days of DHTML, but there's something very different about the newcomers.
More often than not, a micro-library will be open source, licensed freely so that you can use it in both personal and commercial work and, typically, it'll be hosted up on GitHub for anyone to fork and make better.
Micro-libraries are like the anti-matter of the big boys. They tackle a single task and try to handle it really well. In fact, most micro-libraries are so minimalist that they often don't have an accompanying website, just their GitHub pages.
I've selected a few micro-libraries to talk about here, but there are plenty more being created. I'm even guilty of writing a few of my own. Emile.js is "a no-thrills stand-alone CSS animation JavaScript framework, named after Émile Cohl, early animator".
Written by Thomas Fuchs, he of Scriptaculous and Scripty 2 fame, it's a 50-line, 946-byte, Gzipped library (yes, it's actually that small) that will animate any CSS property you like. The only exception is that it won't work with IE opacity, although there's a patch available in the opacity branch.
Lawnchair is a lightweight, client-side JSON store that works in many, many different platforms. It's a project by Brian LeRoux, one of the hackers behind PhoneGap, and provides a simple API for storing arbitrary amounts of data in pretty much any type of platform, including Adobe AIR apps, Android, iPhone, Palm webOS and desktop browsers from Chrome to IE. Very simple and a ton easier than writing cookie code.
Mustache.js is a JavaScript implementation of Mustache (mustache. github.com) for "logic-less templates". Written by Jan Lehnardt, one of the organisers of JSConf.eu, the second-best JavaScript conference in Europe (see my site for the best!),
Mustache.js is available as a vanilla script or plug-in to YUI, jQuery and Dojo. It's a micro-library that serves only to merge data from a JavaScript object into an HTML dummy without the usual pain that some templating systems bring. Not only can you use this system in the browser, you can also run it very easily in server-side JavaScript environments such as Node.
JavaScript Mobile
I now want to show you some of the JavaScript libraries and frameworks, albeit only a few, that are making their way into the mobile development community. Mobile is kind of like the Wild West revisiting us again; we're heading into unchartered landscapes and JavaScript for mobile web apps shouldn't be treated as like-for-like in the desktop world.
There are any number of considerations to be met: performance of the mobile device, whether you want to replicate the native UI and whether the mobile device even supports the newest JavaScript methods.
XUI is another project started by Brian LeRoux of Lawnchair. It's a super-tiny, 3k-compressed mobile JavaScript library akin to jQuery and designed for simple DOM manipulation and traversal. It also includes Ajax and Effects via Emile.js.
As per jQuery, it supports the simple
xui.fn.myplug plug-in model, so it's completely extendable. The project aims to be compatible with mobile browsers based on WebKit, Mozilla's mobile browser Fennec, Opera, IE and BlackBerry. It's still in-project but is stable. I'd recommend getting the source from GitHub.jQTouch isn't so much a framework as a jQuery plug-in that provides a native UI feel to iPhone-based web apps. This includes transition effects, a few template styles for all the UI widgets (such as lists, buttons and toolbars), swipe detection so that it interacts like an iPhone app and, finally, the ability to extend the functionality of the plug-in.
A number of jQTouch-based iPhone apps have already been submitted and are available in the iTunes store, compiled via PhoneGap. I even saw live coding demos by Jonathan Stark during the SXSW conference, showing how he was able to get jQTouch up and running in a simple web app in a matter of a mere 10 minutes.
Finally, I feel compelled to include an honorary mention to jQuery in this section. John Resig has been busy testing mobile devices to understand what they're capable of and, most recently, he's said that jQuery will support a matrix of mobile browsers, akin to the Yahoo graded support matrix. He's also said that unmodified jQuery will support mobile browsers from B-grade and upwards. It's definitely one to watch.
Find what suits you
Selecting and using a JavaScript library, framework, micro-library or even plug-in can be a tricky job. I've shown you some of the projects out in the wild already, and there'll be a fair few more by the time you've read this.
As Ajaxian says: "A new Ajax framework is born every three minutes", and with all that choice, there's bound to be one out there that's perfect for you. So go find it!
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In Depth: 30 essential Google Developer Tools
Google is more than a search company: it's an online leader in applications and cloud services too. All of its offerings are packaged in the same minimalist way because with Google, form takes second place to function. Take Google's strongest and most comprehensive toolkit – Chrome. Among the most standards-compliant of web browsers, it's the ideal browser for development. Add to that a series of features and tools that make it an ideal tweaking and testing platform for editing your own sites.
To launch Chrome Developer Tools, hit [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [I] on any page or click the 'Control the current page' icon on the Chrome toolbar and choose 'Developer'. The Developer Tools suite is similar to Firebug, with tabs for analysing page performance, script behaviour and an 'Audit' feature that validates and suggests code optimisations.
Most powerful is the elements section, which gives you live, line-by-line control over the HTML and CSS in the current page at DOM level. Use it to troubleshoot errant code, try out layout tweaks or inspect another site's layout. You'll find Chrome's JavaScript debugger built in, alongside tools for testing script speed and performance.
Here's a feature tip that's often overlooked: you can right-click on any element in a page and choose Inspect Element to launch Developer Tools right there in the document. You can also click the magnifying glass icon – labelled 'Select an element to inspect' – when you're in Developer Tools. Roll the cursor over the current page and elements are highlighted in blue, enabling you to drill directly to them in the page code.
Of course, Google's better known for its hosted services and cloud-based tools. There's no shortage of those for site tweaking and tinkering either. For instance, Browser Size is a simple and effective gadget. Enter your URL and an overlay shows you what percentage of your page can be seen at different window sizes. It's a quick test that should be added to your pre-flight routine.
Caffeine didn't add speed to its page rank algorithm without notice or support. Page Speed and Speed Tracer are plug-ins for Firefox and Chrome that you can use to look for speed bumps in your sites.
"At Crayon we use Page Speed along with [the Yahoo tool] YSlow to see where we can shave off page weight and reduce load times," says Chris Michael of Crayon. "These tools easily integrate into our existing development environments and give well-documented feedback."
He goes on to praise Page Speed's use in creating PPC (pay per click) landing pages. "Page Speed has had a direct positive impact on the cost of running our PPC campaigns," Michael says, "due to the way Google rewards more efficient pages."
Clickthroughs / keyword tweaks
It's in the field of SEO that Google's most widely used tools can be found. Top of the pile is Google Analytics, which enables you to track unique and returning page hits across a number of categories. More impressively, you can configure goals and targets of your own.
With AdWords integration, it's a must-have tool for click-conscious business sites, enabling you to track hits and clickthroughs to your site from Google's ad network. "We recommend Google Analytics because, for the majority of clients, it can meet their needs without subscription costs," says Margaret Manning, CEO of Reading Room. "Too often we see companies spending significant money on commercial analytics tools, then only using them to get visitor numbers and bounce rates at the end of each month."
It does have its limitations, though. While a fan – "Our clients particularly like the feature whereby they can get automated weekly dashboards sent to them by email" – Chris Michael uses other commercial tools alongside it. "If you're in the business of driving online sales then you should consider a more sophisticated tool like Omniture or Web Trends too," he recommends.
AdWords is surely Google's most successful tool aimed at web builders. Alongside AdSense, a service that enables you to publish context-relevant ads on your pages, it's Google's real business. AdWords pushes traffic your way, AdSense earns money from your content, everyone's happy. What's not to like?
If Analytics is the rock star of Google's cloud SEO service, Webmaster Tools is the faithful roadie. Your listing on Google can, to an extent, be controlled by server-side means, using the standard robots.txt to guide Google's search spider through the hierarchy of your site.
You can spot visits from search engines in your server logs, too. Webmaster Tools helps you tune all that, letting you decide when and where Google crawls your site. The service can also be used to generate a bespoke robots.txt and for close tracking of clicks from search results.
Its real strength, though, is that it displays search rankings for your sites' keyword results on Google in an easy-to-read format. You can easily see which keywords are performing well for you, and which content needs optimising.
Soak testing
Rounding out Google's trio of optimisation tools is Website Optimizer, a service that enables you to quantitatively analyse the performance of different site layouts. The principle is simple. You set up two (or more) different versions of a page and Website Optimizer collects user data, live.
It's an effective, free way to perform user experience testing. "A big growth area for us over the last year has been site optimisation, and in particular the use of A/B and multivariate testing," says Crayon's Chris Michael. "Website Optimizer is great for getting started in this area, although it can only take you so far. We also use Omniture Test and Target and Maxymiser, which offer much richer toolsets."
You're best off starting with an A/B test, which compares and contrasts the metrics for two different layouts. More complex multi-variate testing is better suited to high traffic sites, when you want to test response to more subtle changes, such as a new logo or a repositioned navigation box.
Some of Google's most hardcore tools are aimed squarely at developers. If you're a coder and you know what you're looking for, Code Search can be invaluable. It indexes thousands of code repositories and sources and can find you snippets of PHP, Java, C, Python or PERL. The advanced search option enables you to narrow your quest to specific languages and queries.
If you prefer your code samples to come with working examples, then you have a couple of choices. Google Code is where you'll find scripts, apps and source development kits. It's the gateway for Google's APIs, including the Android SDK, OpenSocial and Google Ajax Libraries, and also a repository for third-party, open source projects.
The best way to find suitable code is at code.google.com/hosting/, where you can keywordsearch or browse projects using a variety of different programming languages. For example, a search for 'social network' returns 655 hits, including full application scripts, PHP libraries and APIs. So far, so server-side.
Chrome Experiments is where you need to go for JavaScript, CSS and HTML inspiration, with a selection of fancily coded pages that play with the extremes of standards-compliant code. It's hosted by rather than produced by Google, so each 'experiment' links to an external site.
With demonstrations of DOM elements imbued with artificial gravity, fractal drawings generated within the HTML5
But there's more to Chrome Experiments, with some demonstrations of complete application behaviour rendered entirely in client-side code.
Like Darkroom, a tool for touching up digital photos directly in Chrome. Then there's Kevin Roast's Asteroids, a full and updated implementation of the classic arcade game in HTML5 and JavaScript.
It's worth mentioning one of the cooler aspects of Chrome's View Source option here. It automatically links to external documents, such as the JavaScript files required to drive these advanced experiments.
Making applications
As we venture further away from site construction and towards application creation, Google's tools become more singular and more robust.
Gears may not have the visibility of Adobe AIR, another wrapper for application content built using web technologies, but it's still widely used. While AIR is more often deployed to bring web apps to the desktop, Gears is used to add offline functionality to web pages, adding database, storage and file I/O to applications running in a browser.
It comes bundled with JavaScript APIs that enable you to control local resources. These are LocalServer, an API that intercepts URL calls from your browser and server files from your machine; Database, for SQL accessible data storage; and WorkerPool, which runs application processes.
However, although Gears is still available to developers and supported by Google, the company is moving towards standardised web technologies to achieve the same ends.
HTML5 includes much of the same local and session storage functionality and, following the W3C's Web Applications 1.0 spec, there are Local Storage and Web Sockets features now built directly into Chrome.
For application development in pure JavaScript, Google's Closure Tools is a little known but very powerful suite. A Google Code resource, there are several apps.
The Closure Compiler enables you to optimise JavaScript documents into fast, portable and syntax-checked code. Although the resulting script is no longer readable by mere human beings, there's the Closure Inspector, a tool that lets you edit the 'compiled' code as easily as an unoptimised script.
While we're still on the hard stuff, Google Web Toolkit features the GWT SDK, which enables you to write applications in Java, then translate them to optimised JavaScript. There's a plug-in for open source IDE Eclipse too, so you can develop tools in a visual environment.
"The strengths of the toolkit are most certainly the provided tools, and the development environment," says Mike Parker, co-founder of digital media agency Orange Bus. "We knew Java and were comfortable using that technology for the server side, and were intrigued by their approach of writing the web UI in Java and having the tools compile that for delivery to the browser. An interesting level of abstraction!"
Of course, there's real value in tools that are less than industrial strength – those ostensibly aimed at consumers. Google-owned YouTube, for example, offers a free and easy method to host, embed and serve video on websites, for example.
Blogger is still one of the most flexible hosted content publishing tools there is, with AdSense integration making it the only free platform that allows you to earn from advertising.
Then there's Google Sites, a tool that's eminently suited to intranet usage, given its collaborative, wiki-style editing tools and structure. Other tools that can be integrated directly into your website, with embeddable code ready to use, include photo organiser Picasa, Google Maps and Google Merchant Center (formerly known as Google Base).
Designer Guy Hoogewerf uses them all – and more. "My methodology is simple," says Guy. "Why reinvent the wheel? If (Picasa) has created slideshow code, we should use it. Google has so many tools that it should be a web developer's dream come true."
While the tools we've considered so far are all directly applicable to the design and development process, Google has other services that enable teams to work together on projects.
Take Google Documents, which now enables you to upload and share files of any type. "It's not exactly a development tool, but Google Docs is definitely part of our web development efforts," says Prem Prakash, senior developer at Likemind.
"We use documents and spreadsheet aspects of Google Docs for collaboration and information-sharing within the team for in-house projects. It's saved us from keeping multiple versions of Excel files. We also like the fact that the spreadsheets are available to all concerned, at all times, and that we can all work on them simultaneously."
Similarly, Google Calendar, with its shared, colour-coded calendar features, can be useful for project management. With Gmail integration, you can directly add appointments to Calendar from email or receive reminders or alerts in your inbox.
And while we're on the theme of collaboration, Google Wave may not be as popular as Google expected, but it does provide an ideal forum for real-time collaboration, with tools for chat, thread creation, posting images and documents and the all-important whiteboard.
Did you even realise Google had so many diverse projects on the go? From complex, near-clandestine efforts like Google's programming language Go to well-known consumer tools like YouTube, there's one thing that effectively unites them all; imaginative web developers and designers can harness the power of these free-to-use tools to make great websites.
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Review: ToshIba Qosmio X500-128
Toshiba's Qomsio range comprises its high-end media centres with the X500-128 being Toshiba's only dedicated gaming machine. Offering impressive performance and stylish, bigscreen usability it makes a decent choice for gamers, but it isn't without its flaws.
Built around a huge 18.4-inch Super-TFT screen, this is large laptop. The extra screen size makes it ideal for gaming and watching movies, but of course adds to the chassis' weight. At 4.8kg you won't want to carry it far.
The screen itself is vibrant enough, but lacks the brightness of rival gaming laptops, such as the Alienware M17x. It also features quite a low resolution in comparion to most of its rivals again, so while images are certainly sharp enough for most uses, playing games in Full HD is out of the question.
Graphics are equally capable yet underwhelming. The Nvidia GTS 360M GPU is a high performance chip more than capable of running the latest games, but falls far behind all rivals. If you're seeking maximum gaming power, this isn't the machine for you, as the Alienware M17x, for example, doubles its performance.
Where the Qosmio fares much better is in its home office abilities. Powered by a quad-core Intel Core i7 720QM processor and 6144MB of DDR3 memory, this high powered machine easily matches its rivals, breezing through even the most complex of software tasks.
The X500 can also easily be used as a home media hub. A panel of quick-access hotkeys provides easy control of your files and dedicated Harman Kardon stereo speakers delivers far better audio than most laptops are able to offer.
Singular style
This is one of the most eye-catching machines we've seen of late, but its style won't suit all tastes. The glossy black and red plastics create a vibrant yet understated look, but the shiny surface is a magnet for scratches and smudges.
Thankfully the glossy finish is not carried across to the keyboard. The board itself is very well fixed and we found all keys responded smoothly and accurately. The keys do have quite a long degree of travel, however, which can create a slightly spongy feeling when typing.
Storage is on a par with all but the Asus G73Jh, with the 500GB hard drive providing plenty of storage space. This laptop also features a fingerprint scanner for protecting files against unauthorised access.
While the Qosmio X500-128 is a good multimedia machine, its limited gaming power and lack of a Full HD screen make it a tough sell against its gaming laptop rivals. On its own merits, it's an easy laptop to like, but in this company it falls too far short.
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Review: Samsung P580
The Samsung P580 is a reasonably priced professional laptop aimed at mobile business users. We were impressed by the machine's overall quality, with only a minor usability flaw detracting from the otherwise attractive package.A smart black business design has been used throughout and it's appropriate, although not particularly inspired. The rubberised lid surface provides a good grip when carrying and prevents fingerprints showing, while the inside features a brushed-metal finish that looks good and adds to the solid feel.
The chassis is durable enough for a life on the road, with no clear flex in any area and anti-shock protection for the 320GB hard drive. A weight of 2.5kg and the slimline build means you can comfortably carry this laptop around all day, although the 196-minute battery life is merely average.
If portability is a priority, there are better business laptops around.
Solid performer
Performance is assured thanks to the Intel Core i3 processor, so there's easily enough power on offer for multi-tasking with the most intensive office applications. At this price we would have preferred a Core i5 CPU, however, for extra future-proofing.
Graphics are handled by a dedicated Nvidia graphics card with 512MB of dedicated video memory. While the latest games will only run smoothly on lower detail levels, this is more than enough power for professional design and multimedia applications.
The widescreen 15.6-inch display is bright and comfortable to work on for long periods, with excellent contrast levels. There's no glossy Super-TFT coating and, although images aren't quite as vibrant as a result, the display isn't reflective, making it perfect for outdoor use.
A full-sized keyboard with a separate numeric keypad is in place and for the most part it's a well-built board with firm keys and decent travel. However, we found that the spacebar occasionally didn't register if pressed near the edges. We needed to adjust our typing style to compensate, which was a little irritating.
Plenty of ports are on offer, including VGA, HDMI and even a Serial Port. Four USB ports provide lots of room for adding peripherals, with one doubling as an eSATA port and another offering Sleep and Charge functionality for charging portable devices. A docking port is also available underneath the laptop.
The Samsung P580 has a fair amount to offer professional users, with a worthy specification and solid range of features. The TFT display is perfect for working on the move, and the strong overall build quality is only let down by the dodgy spacebar.
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Guide: Explained: lost+found folder in OS X
Buzzwords and phrases are part and parcel of the IT industry; they come and go at an incredible pace. Those of you who were using Macs back before OS X was released will remember, no doubt, this one: UNIX underpinnings. It's one of those phrases that, all in one, tells you something and nothing. It sounds grand and clearly it's meant to be a good thing.
Mac OS X is built on UNIX – that's really as much as any end users should ever need to know. In fact, you probably don't even need to know that. However, those underpinnings are what make the Mac OS more stable and reliable.
UNIX stirrings
Every now and again, the dark underbelly of OS X bubbles up to the surface and this happened to me just the other day. Go and check the top level of your hard disk, I'll wait here while you do.
Right, now you're back, did you discover a folder there called lost+found? If there was, this is those UNIX underpinnings at work. This is nothing to panic about; well, it might be, but don't do anything radical just yet.
The lost+found folder is created for a variety of reasons, and all of them loosely connected. Most often the lost+found folder is created after a forced shutdown or a power cut. The OS loses track of what was going on and instead of dumping any files or folders it has lost track of, it puts them in the lost+found folder.
But before you work yourself into a frenzy, check the contents of the folder – if there's not much in there and the creation dates are old, you can rest easy.
If, however, there are lots of files in there and they're all recent, this might indicate a problem with the file system or even your hard disk. The appearance of a folder called lost+found on your hard disk can also point to a physical issue with your hard disk.
To be frank, it's likely any issue with a hard disk will have manifested itself in other unusual behaviour and/or crashes long before the appearance of said folder. Now, you still don't really need to panic because you have at least two recent backups of your data safely tucked away somewhere, don't you? You do? Good.
A simple format and reinstall of OS X should solve this issue and though it's time consuming, it'll save you from larger problems the sooner you do it. If you want, use a third-party disk tool like Disk Warrior to assess the heath of your file system. This will let you know if anything is amiss and will alert you to any major issues.
You should also regularly check the S.M.A.R.T. status of your hard disk in Disk Utility, which is handily built-in to Mac OS X.
Miscreant folders
It can be a bit disconcerting to find a folder created by your Mac without your knowledge, and perhaps it's a shortcoming of the UNIX underpinnings that it isn't highlighted whenever it happens. A lost+found folder on your hard disk isn't the end of the world, but you should have a check to see if it's the harbinger of potential future problems within your system.
However, the single most important pact you should maintain with your Mac is to have a regular and systematic backup regime. That way, even if the file system has a senior moment or your hard disk annihilates itself in spectacular fashion, you won't lose anything other than time.
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