Alex Hudson - Smashing CoffeeScript

Publishers Acknowledgements

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Editorial and Production

VP Consumer and Technology Publishing Director: Michelle Leete

Associate DirectorBook Content Management: Martin Tribe

Associate Publisher: Chris Webb

Executive Commissioning Editor: Birgit Gruber

Associate Commissioning Editor: Ellie Scott

Development Editor: Sydney Argenta

Copy Editor: Melba Hopper

Technical Editor: Kevin Bradwick

Editorial Manager: Jodi Jensen

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Composition Services

Compositor: Indianapolis Composition Services

Proofreader: Lindsay Amones

Indexer: Potomac Indexing, LLC

This edition first published 2013

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978-1-118-45437-4

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-1-118-45437-4 (paperback); ISBN 978-1-118-45492-3 (ebook); ISBN 978-1-118-45493-0 (ebook); ISBN 978-1-118-45494-7 (ebook)

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For Laura & Ben

About the Author

Alex Hudsons first computers comprised an Amstrad 1512 and Oric Atmos: two peculiarly British machines, coming with slightly odd versions of BASIC. As was the case with most 8-bit machines of that era, they also arrived with programming manuals and assembly language instruction set documentation, and from that point on Alex was hooked.

By his teens, the Internet had happened: or, at least, dial-up CompuServe access arrived in the UK. With a group of like-minded friends who enjoyed swapping code, now on the peculiarly British Psion 3a portable computer, Alex won one of the first national awards for a schools websitein hindsight, probably due more to lack of competition than technical innovation.

Swapping code on the internet turned out to be the next big thing, and Alex became an active member of the UK free software and open source community, developing applications and libraries and actively contributing to a number of different projects, including Linux, Hula (later Bongo), and later became a Fedora Developer.

Alex has a broad background in information systems. From leading development of innovative foreign language e-learning systems to large databases for Government projects, the common theme in his work life has been digital application development. Having co-founded and advised a number of start-ups, he currently serves as the Chief Technical Officer at mydeco.com, an innovative homewares start-up making big strides in Europe.

Acknowledgments

To begin with, Id like to thank the wonderful team at Wiley: firstly, Chris Webb for reaching out to me in the first place but then being incredibly positive about the various ideas I pitched to him. Secondly, to Sydney Jones Argenta, whose tolerance and patience with me has been out-matched only by her skilled leadership of this project, and without whom this book wouldnt have happened. I also need to thank the various editors and reviewers who spent their time on my manuscripts, this book is so much the better for their work.

A large proportion of this book covers CoffeeScript, jQuery, and Spine; software authored largely (to begin with, at least) by three individuals: Jeremy Ashkenas, John Resig and Alex MacCaw, respectively. They deserve not only my thanks for their prolific technical authorship (beyond even those projects mentioned), but broader recognition of their contribution to the Internet and technology in general. The world needs more inspirational coders of their ilk.

Lastly, I need to thank my family for providing the time and space to write. My wife is my constant support, and my parents, sister and various in-laws have all been tremendously encouraging. I have a new-found respect for those who commit to writing a book but also for their families, whose contribution is difficult to overstate.