Rob,
Apart from it all being magically accessible and standards compliant,
Yep, "Now thats magic!" :)
your post more or less described how ASP.Net works now. It's great because it lets desktop developers with no front end web skills produces apps quickly, but it's horrible because it lets desktop developers with no front end web skills produce apps quickly.
ASP.Net caught my attention a few months ago - it seemed like a great idea. Imagine the possibility of learning one language that allows you to deploy applications for the desktop, and bonus, on the web too! But then I thought to myself the same thing as yourself, this could be dangerous. All of a sudden we are going to have these "desktop" programmers thinking that their apps are going to magically work on the web and it "will just work" and you will be able to "Get things done" faster. After all, the web is just like the desktop right? :) Don't get me wrong, I think this stuff is great, just like the work that Google has done with Java and GWT. I would however like it if Javascript itself, in the long run, was the major language chosen for development... But that's just me. Im just a little sceptical that the technology is as good as people make out, and feel that there is still a need for developers that have had experience with the web.
I saw an advert in adeveloper magazine this week about a custom control for .Net in which there was a (perhaps fictional) quote from a developer - "Control X is great because it means I can stop worrying about the UI and concentrate on the business logic." The fact that ASP.Net developers apparently find this sentiment of abdicating responsibility for the UI beguiling is what worries me about the whole 'user interfaces designed by IDEs' concept.
Hehe, Its horrible to think that thats pretty much how most desktop applications user interfaces are actually "designed" - by the application programmer in his drag and drop IDE. Check out how complicated Word is and you get the drift of why that can be a complete disaster - IMHO.
I've often seen the attitude among people that consider themselves 'real' developers (ie. back end types) that front end stuff is easy and a task for junior developers, and those same people are happy to have their framework spit out crappy markup because it's 'only the UI'. But crappy code at the front end is IMO just as bad as crappy code at the back end, and perhaps more focus on 'front end web development' as a speciality in it's own right would perhaps help correct some of these issues. Rob
Agreed totally. Its also troubling to think that as a web developer, I probably make less than some C++ developers - or any other "desktop application" focussed language. Certainly less than .NET programmers, but that's something all together different. It can bite at both ends too. A lot of web developers are hired as server side scripters. For instance, strictly speaking, I am being paid on a similar level to that of a "php developer". Yet, the kind of work I actually do it is getting to the level of application development - sure there is server side scripting, but now I am also employing clientside technologies like Flash or Javascript to create web APPLICATIONS with rich user interfaces - all with the trappings of your typical desktop app, but even more so because of all the trappings of the web. So, should I get paid more? Hell yes! Not putting down PHP or any other scripting language, I just don't think that server side is all there is to the web and certainly no more than half of what makes web applications. This mindset It's hopefully something that will change. Im just interested to see what happens when I update my resume (its been over 3 years now) and try for a new job one day. How will I sell my skill set? Karl ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *******************************************************************
