Books

Frank has authored a number of books which are currently available:


Practical Ajax Projects with Java Technology
Practical Ajax Projects with Java Technology provides a learn-by-example experience for Java developers. It features a crowd-pleasing array of seven complete example applications that you can even adapt for use in your own projects. Technologies covered include Apache, Ant, Ajax Tags, Struts, Prototype, DWR, Dojo, and more.

Practical JavaScript, DOM Scripting and Ajax Projects
Practical JavaScript, DOM, and Ajax Projects is ideal for web developers already experienced in JavaScript who want to take their knowledge to the next level. It presents ten complete example projects for you to learn from and adapt for use in your own work. For each application, you are taken through the planning, design, and implementation stages. This book will save you countless hours of development time, and help further your JavaScript knowledge!

Practical DWR 2 Projects
Practical DWR 2 Projects includes six full, working applications, introducing you to all that DWR offers. You’ll learn by example as you tear the applications apart, see what makes them tick, and even extend them at your own pace. In the end, you’ll have a great feel for what DWR offers and how Ajax can bring the world of Web 2.0 to your doorstep, and you’ll have a good time doing it.

Practical Dojo Projects
Uncover the fundamentals of Dojo, its core, Dojo Widgets, and DojoX. In Practical Dojo Projects, you’ll learn all about what Dojo has to offer. You’ll see it in action in the form of five fully functional applications.

Practical Ext JS Projects with Gears
Discover Ext JS, one of today’s most powerful and highly regarded JavaScript frameworks, with perhaps the best set of GUI widgets around, and a whole host of components that make developing client–side applications a breeze. Using a pragmatic approach to learning all about Ext JS, you’ll dissect seven full–fledged applications and realize the potential of Ext JS in modern RIA development.

Practical Palm Pre webOS Projects
In this book, you'll learn all about the Palm Pre and webOS, their capabilities, and how to develop for them. You'll learn to write applications that function entirely on the Pre itself, and you'll also learn to write applications that "live in the cloud" (i.e., keep you connected to the digital world around you). You'll spend most of your time looking at Mojo, the framework API through which your code interfaces with the operating system. All of this will be presented within the context of six fully functional real-world applications that you can use on your own Pre!
 

Articles

Here are some articles written by Frank over the years:


  • Reporting For The Web with DataVision
    An introduction to the open-source reporting tool DataVision, specifically with a focus on how to integrate it into a Java-based web application. Includes a complete sample web application (plain Servlets) demonstrating what is discussed in the article.
  • Ajax using XMLHttpRequest and Struts
    An introduction to the latest buzzword: AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML). Includes a relatively robust Struts-based sample web application demonstrating a number of AJAX techniques.
  • The AjaxParts Taglib from Java Web Parts: AJAX for Java Developers the Easy (yet powerful) Way!
    This article introduces the AjaxParts Taglib (APT), a component of the Java Web Parts Project (JWP). APT is a taglib that allows for easy, declarative, event-driven AJAX, allowing a developer to add AJAX capabilities to existing or new webapps without the need to write ANY JavaScript at all! This article demonstrates how it works, explains the benefits, and goes into some details about the capabilities it offers out-of-the-box, as well as the ways in which it can be extended to fulfill far more advanced users.
  • Cross-Domain AJAX with Pure JavaScript (appeared in JSMag, August 2009)
    Mashups are all the rage these days; mixing together various web services using JavaScript as the glue to create a whole new application is a very seductive siren song. AJAX would seem to be the perfect viable for reaching this nirvana… and it likely would be were it not for that annoying same-domain restriction slapping you in the face every time! In this article you’ll learn how to get around that limitation using nothing but JavaScript and some fancy script-foo!
  • Growing Up Commodore (Recollections digital magazine, Issue 2)
    This is an article detailing my early teen years and my early exposure to computers, especially the Commodore 64. Talks about my involvement in the "underground" pirate scene, the BBS scene, hacking, phreaking, and a lot of immature, stupid stuff I did when I didn't know any better! I *think* the statute of limitations has run out on this stuff :) Note that it doesn't say my real name, but Fantasy... that's me! Note that there are some screenshots from some of my C64 demos and group intros, which is a nice touch for those that may remember them.
  • webOS Article for JSMag, part 1 (December 2009 issue)
    This is the first of a three-part series of articles I wrote for JSMag. This is an introduction to Palm's new webOS for developers. Note: this will open in a new window or browser tab.
  • webOS Article for JSMag, part 2 (January 2010 issue)
    This is the second of a three-part series of articles I wrote for JSMag. This is an introduction to Palm's new webOS for developers. Note: this will open in a new window or browser tab.
  • webOS Article for JSMag, part 3 (February 2010 issue)
    This is the third of a three-part series of articles I wrote for JSMag. This is an introduction to Palm's new webOS for developers. Note: this will open in a new window or browser tab.
  • Far Out Fowl: An Exercise in webOS Canvas Game Development
    This is an article written for the Palm Developer Network that teaches developers the ins and outs of game programming for the webOS platform using standards-based methods. It discusses many different game Development topics, not all strictly related to Palm's webOS operating system.
  • webOS Wiki: The merger of knowledge, mobile and cloud computing
    This is an article written for the Palm Developer Network that teaches developers about client-server development, cloud computing really, for the webOS platform. The article develops a wiki that hosts a client component in Google App Engine, and the webOS client that makes use of it. It shows both REST-based communication as well as using DWR in a webOS application and deals with offline and synchronization issues too.
 

Fiction

Frank has even authored some works of fiction. Although none have yet been published (maybe soon, I hope!), I thought I'd share some of that here:


  • COMING SOON: The Darkness Beyond The Light
    This is a short story I wrote when I was about 17, and discovering love for the first time. It's a sappy, sci-fi/new-age mish-mosh about ancient aliens battling through time, the destruction of the Earth and how two humans survive it through the power of love. Yes, it's about as corny as that makes it sound! But hey, I was young and experiencing many things for the first time, so sue me! I'll be posting this shortly, but I only found this in a drawer a while back and OCR'd it, but I need to do some minor editing. I don't intend to change the story one bit, or even correct most of the spelling and grammar errors... you might as well get the full experience! But I do have to edit it for formatting and the places where the OCR process simply fell flat on its face, so as soon as that's done I'll post this.