Killer Idea

[MrFish]

So I'm making a site for a band called The Chameleon Soundscape. I hadn't thought about the layout all too much and was going to go with a traditional layout and style. But why not do something original, at least for my standards. So now I'm thinking about making an iphone app like site. It's going to be ajax driven and it needs to be extremely scalable, flexible and customizable. It's actually going to be "hard" as apposed to time consuming.Here is the idea I drew up in ms painthopefully the picture is self explanatory. Panels can be added, removed, resized, and organised. Personal chats can but opened with other users and minimized in an "app bar" along with an mp3 player. I need to know what would be the best way of doing this. I know it's a broad question but it's open for your input. I'm taking a java class and I've just learned what objects really are and the capabilities of it. Is oop in javascript and php any good? Should I be using that for panels and such. The last thing I want to happen is for the code to get sloppy and unorganized. But unfortunately it seems that is usually the case after a few days worth of programming.

[Mencarta]

With the moving and removing of the panels use JS. Also use it for making the stuff appear. For the chat you will probably have to use PHP.

[justsomeguy]

You'll probably want to use a library like ExtJS or something similar.http://www.extjs.com/deploy/dev/examples/portal/portal.html

[MrFish]

You'll probably want to use a library like ExtJS or something similar.http://www.extjs.com/deploy/dev/examples/portal/portal.html

Yes, this is extremely similar to what I want but I don't know the best way to do it? Like, this may be a dumb question, but I should be using arrays for this, correct?

[justsomeguy]

That's a pretty abstract question. An array is just a data structure, like an object or variable. So yeah, you'll be using variables, arrays, and objects, among other things.

[MrFish]

That's a pretty abstract question. An array is just a data structure, like an object or variable. So yeah, you'll be using variables, arrays, and objects, among other things.

Yah I know, I'm just not sure where I should even start. I've dived head first into it and so far isn't working out. So back to the drawing board.

[boen_robot]

Yah I know, I'm just not sure where I should even start. I've dived head first into it and so far isn't working out. So back to the drawing board.

Try to copy&paste the example, then alter things one by one to see how they get affected. Make sure to also keep the API documentation around.

[justsomeguy]

Here's the rest of the examples:http://www.extjs.com/deploy/dev/examples/And here are the tutorials:http://www.extjs.com/learn/TutorialsYou'll want to go through all of the basic tutorials and also the application design tutorials, things are done a little differently with ExtJS and it takes some time to get used to. In my ExtJS applications typically only about 1% of the code I write is HTML, with the rest being Javascript and PHP. It's pretty Javascript-centric, although it's possible to also have a regular HTML site and use ExtJS to transform it into something better.

[sumchurch]

The last thing I want to happen is for the code to get sloppy and unorganized. But unfortunately it seems that is usually the case after a few days worth of programming.

I learned this from Kansas City Power and Light -- back in the olden days of tape cassette drives: When you think you are 2/3rds done, blow it all away and start over! KCP&L did the "blow away" for me, but after 24 hours of kicking myself, I got back to work -- and recreated the work in 1/3rd the time -- all slick and cool and much more readable. At the 2/3rds point, I finally know what I was trying to do!Dave