Using modernizr to help with canvas

On my current project I've been using a little bit of the HTML5 Canvas element to provide a little bell/whistle. However, the problem with Canvas is that not all browsers support it. Out of the box though Canvas gives you a quick and handy way of dealing with that problem:

<div id="content">
    <div id="demo-space-wrapper">
        <canvas height="100" id="demo-space" width="100">
            This text is displayed if the client browser does not support HTML5 Canvas.
        </canvas>
    </div>
</div>

The problem with this approach is that if your layout expects to have an object there and your client's use of Internet Explorer doesn't include the Canvas extension then this could damage the overall feel of your layout.

And that is where Modernizr comes in to play. It is a trivial to use JavaScript library that makes it possible to detect if a browser can use Canvas or any other HTML control. So what I did was take the Modernizr Canvas detection documentation and apply it to my JavaScript. With that in hand I wrote this:

// check for canvas
if (Modernizr.canvas) {
    // We have canvas so add a rectangle
    var demospace = document.getElementById('demo-space');
    var context = demospace.getContext('2d');
    context.fillStyle = "rgb(255,0,0)";
    context.fillRect(10, 10, 10, 10)            
} else {
    // No canvas. Remove the layout space to preserve the layout.
    var ul = document.getElementById('content');
    var li = document.getElementById('demo-space-wrapper');
    ul.removeChild(li);
};

Code highlighting on blogger

Thanks to Luka Marinko I have code highlighting now!

def python_funct():
   a = a + b
   print "Hello Highlighted code"

class Foo(Bar):
   pass

Steve Holden giving a talk on Python education

Steve Holden, Python Software Foundation chairman and all around decent guy is giving a webcast talk today at 1 pm PST (4 pm EST) about the O'Reilly school courses on Python and the upcoming O'Reilly Python certification programs. Check out the O'Reilly promotional page:

Steve Holden's Webcast

Some quick notes:

1. Steve Holden is a marvelous speaker and a great wit. Even if you don't do Python and aren't a geek its worth listen to him talk. Leaving the DC area means I won't get the chance to sit at his feet and absorb his magnificent wisdom.

2. In certain ways, I believe Python needs these kinds of certification programs. The lack of certification or any paper validation of python skills means that a number of large and conservative organizations are often hesitant to use Python. And one way to make those organizations more open to using Python is certifications. Its not the only answer, and its an answer that comes with its own set of problems, but I think that Steve and O'Reilly are a really good choice for overcoming these problems.

3. I helped Steve write the Python 1: Beginning Python. So by attending you will be supporting my work too. :)