What I Hate About Web 2.0

Some of this Web 2.0 nonsense is slowly starting to get to me. One of the most irritating things about this phenomenon is the way that people equal JavaScript and "Ajax".

Not only is AJAX an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML and therefore should be capitalized, but it also does not mean any possible thing and technique that has something to do with JavaScript.

For example, John Resig (of the jQuery fame) recently made a brilliant port of the Processing visualization language to JavaScript and Canvas. It was soon promoted on Digg.com with a title Amazing Ajax Animation Engine. (Yes, Digg users are not as tech-savvy as Slashdotters and don’t know better but it’s not just Digg.com)

The saddest thing about this is that I’m fairly certain that this is something that is not going to go away. Ever. It’s like the Java != JavaScript thing again.

The Art of Web Development

During the last few moths I’ve kept myself busy with Web development work. Dividing my time between running a company, music hobbies and my two cats, most days seem to run out of hours. But no matter how hectic my days get, I’ve still got the passion.

Finding a passion is important. There is no equally powerful driving force than ones passion. Recent discussions with an artist friend made me think about the choices I’ve made in my life. I realized that much in a same way that my friend has chosen to not sell out and paint something that everybody would buy, but instead express herself the way she wants to, I’ve chosen to employ myself and work only on things I really want to. It’s a road that seldom leads to big money, but for us being able to work on projects that we are passionate about is much more important than money.

I’m often impressed by the way the folks at 37signals design the details in their apps, and how Adrian Holovaty always finds time to tweak even the smallest changes to Django documentation to meet his high standards. This kind of commitment only comes from people who are passionate about what they do.

A programmer friend of mine once said that to him programming is poetry. I’ve come to understand that Web development is as much art as it is engineering; you have to have love in your product. And when you do, your users will feel it.