So then Long division is one of those things that as an adult I might end up forgetting how to do, as it is something that I can not say I do on a regular basis. However of course it is not so hard to get back up to speed with it again, as it is elementary school level math after all. A quick Google search and a few minutes of research is all I need then to re educate myself on how to do it.

However these days knowing how to do long division with paper and pencil is not going to help me get much of anywhere today. The situation has changed over the years to a situation in which it is more important to know how to go about teaching a computer how to preform long division. Or at least that is the case when it comes to writing some kind of module where doing so is called for, even then it would often be better to just use such a module that has been development before hand and move on to something else. However this sort of thing might still be worth while purely for the sake of having some kind of programing exercise. With that said often coming up with a javaScript solution to replicate the process of long division is not so elementary. Solutions for doing so can often work okay, but might not work out as well as I might like in some situations.

The main reason why I might take the time to look into solutions for long division is because I am working on some kind of project where I am running into problems with respect to the limits of javaScript numbers. Thankfully there is now native BigInt support in core javaScript by itself, and there is also the Big-Integer user space library that can be used as a poly fill for that. So in most cases I would want to just make use of that and move on with my project in that case. However when it comes to becoming a better programmer just copying and pasting code without taking the time to look into it deeper does not help with that does it.

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I thought I would start a collection of posts that are nodejs example, that is examples of simple projects that just make use of nodejs. For the first in the series why not start out with some basic starting points for the beginnings of a web server project. Very basic examples might just involve the use of the create server method of the node built in node module. However when it comes to making a real project there is much more that needs to happen, but still it starts with basic hello world style examples. So lets take a look at a few simple web server node examples and get starting working on something cool.

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A Canvas Gradient can be created in HTML 5 canvas with two drawing context methods of interest which are create Linear Gradient, and create Radial Gradient.

Once a Gradient object is created it is possible to add color stops to it, once done it can be used as a fill or stroke style in a 2d drawing context using gradient color rather than just simple static colors. A gradient style is a nice change from just simple solid colors when it comes to drawing with the context methods, but it might not be the end all solution for this sort of thing. There are ways of working out custom logic for making gradient like effects which can be a fun project as well as a good example for creating a model and a way to go about drawing that model using canvas. So lets look at some examples of creating gradients using canvas and javaScript code.

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A JS IIFE or Immediately Invoked Function Expression is a way to make a javaScript function expression that self invokes right away when it is defined, rather than at a later point in time. Thus the name Immediately Invoked refers to the fact that it is defined and then invoked, it is also some times called a self executed function expression.

When it comes to older specs of javaScript an IIFE is a way to go about using the function level only variable scope of those specs to have a whole bunch of private, or local variables wrapped up inside the body of one of these kinds of functions. In late specs of javaScript there is now block level variable scope, but I still find myself often using and IIFE with, or in place of, block level scope. I am also mainly the kind of developer that still try to push things back as far as I can when it comes to supporting older platforms, so the use of IIFEs and closure in general is one thing to to to help go more in that direction.

Inside the body of an IIFE the return keyword can then be used as a way to go about returning something that can be stored in a variable outside of the IIFE. This something that is returned to an outside variable can be a plain old object with properties and methods, a function, or a function with static properties added that serves as a kind of public API. Private helper methods can then also be placed inside the IIFE that can then be used indirectly in the public methods.

The IIFE can also just be used as a way to not go about polluting the global name space, as everything that is defined within the body of an IIFE with var, let, or const will be local to the function rather than the top level or global object. Builds of projects are often made where all the front end code of a project is wrapped up into an IIFE. This helps to keep all the variables of a project from writing over anything else that might be global in a page.

These kinds of functions in javaScript are often used in module design, as private methods and other values can be in the body of the function, and a public set of methods and properties can be a product that is returned by the IIFE and stored in a single global variable, or attached to a single global object. So it goes without saying that a javaScript IIFE is something that any javaScript developer should become familiar with by paying around with a few code examples that make use of one. In this post I will be going over a few basic examples of an IIFE in javaScript, and maybe even touch base on some real examples also.

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When I am starting out with a canvas project there is often a need to have some kind of system in place for creating a simple user interface html canvas buttons that consists of just a bunch of buttons. These buttons can end up preforming all kinds of actions when clicked, and it sometimes might be nessecry to create a fairly complex module for them. You would think that this would be a simple task when it comes to canvas, but things in canvas are not like things are with html outside of the canvas element where one can just add an input element.

Sure an input element and an event handler for it will work just fine in a pinch, but what if I want display objects rendered in the canvas to be what the button is for buttons? Doing so is more or less the same thing as creating display objects in general, it is just that we are creating a special kind of display object that is a user interface button. So in this canvas example post, I will be going over a basic button layout solution for a canvas project.

This button layout will working okay when it comes to certain projects, however in others I might want to do additional things to make it so that the buttons move in and out of the canvas. There is a fine line between a user interface button and a display object that is used to represent an enemy or play object in a game for example. In some projects I guess the only difference might be how a button is skinned compared to other display objects and what happens when you click or touch one.

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