If you have ever wanted an easy way to cache JavaScript objects and data in your client-side code just like you would when using the ASP.Net's Server side cache then read this article.

Monsur Hossain wrote a JavaScript LRU Cache which my partner found while we were searching for a JavaScript caching option.  As I am a big fan of the ASP.Net AJAX framework and the fact that I was extremely impressed with the feature rich cache written by Monsur, which was fashioned after the ASP.Net's cache. I decided to port the code to an ASP.Net AJAX component. 

ASP.Net AJAX extends JavaScript in some amazing ways which are beyond the scope of this article. However, ASP.Net AJAX does provide a framework to approach JavaScript in a more object oriented fashion.  One such feature of the framework is building classes based on the prototype design pattern which is my goal in porting Monsur's code.  You can find more information about the Least Recently Used caching algorithms at Wikipedia.  And if you are not currently using ASP.Net AJAX or have no plan to implement it I invite you to visit Monsur's site for the original implementation to which a link can be found at the end of this article. 

For those of you who do use ASP.Net AJAX and are looking for a JavaScript Object Cache read on as I describe the porting of the original which I call the JSOCache. More...

This is the second installment of my developer arsenal. Be sure to check out the previous article:

• Developer Arsenal Tool #1: Nikhil's Web Development Helper

The tool that I will be profiling today is the  IE Developer Toolbar. It has many features that somewhat overlap the features in Nikhil's Web Development Helper.   However, these features are ones that I did not profile in the article about Tool #1.  This is primarily because I usually lean towards the IE Developer Toolbar for the following features:

• Page Element Selection
• Element Attribute and Style Information
• Source View Isolation with CSS
• Tab Index Identification
• Ruler and Color Picker

These are the features that we will explore and it is honestly the tip of the iceberg with what this tool offers. More...

So you have used update panels before.  And the same code you may have used in an AJAX enabled website does not work when you put it into a Web Application. 

I struggled with this for several hours before discovering that if you have the following line in your web.config file it breaks ASP.Net AJAX.
<xhtmlConformance mode="Legacy"/>

I have not researched the reason behind this but I plan to do so and will provide an update when I find more information.  Just know that you can comment out this line or change the mode from Legacy and your Update Panel should start working.  Let me hear from you if you know why this breaks ASP.Net AJAX or if removing this config entry does not clear your problem.

UPDATE: 2/5/2008

Found that this config file entry is created when migrating from VS 2003 to VS 2005 and can occur with Web Applications and Websites.  For a deaper understanding Scott Guthrie sheads some insight.

The times have changed; with the advent of newer technologies such as AJAX with its partial rendering, a more structured (OO) approach to JavaScript as well as more complicated web page layouts it has become more difficult to evaluate, debug and visualize the results of your development.  That is way I have come to rely on some invaluable tools other than Visual Studio and notepad.  Therefore, I will start my targeted ramblings with a series of articles profiling the tools on which I have come to depend.  The first, and to me the most valuable, is Nikhil’s Web Development Helper.   So how does it help?!

Consider the following debugging and development challenges:

• JavaScript debugging with full call stack information
• ASP.Net AJAX Sys.Debug output
• HTTP logging with JSON format display
• JavaScript class browser
• JavaScript Immediate Window

More...