[Off Topic] Any "web applicaiton developers" out there?

[Anon]

Jason Mills wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> This is extremely off topic, but this newsgroup is the one that I'm the 
> most familiar with, and all regular posters seem to be friendly and have 
> insights I respect, so I thought I would post it here.
> 
> I have an opportunity to change the type of software development I do 
> from developing desktop (some client/server) engineering/scientific 
> applications to developing web applications (J2EE, JSP, HTML, PHP, 
> Databases, etc). I'm doing some research to help determine if web 
> application development is for me.
> 
> If you are or were a web application developer, or have an interest in it:
> 
> - Do you enjoy that type development and why?
> 

I've done quite a bit of different stuff, but a lot of it has been the development, care and feeding
of web related apps. of parts thereof.

I like implementing the business logic and database stuff the most.

> - Do you find web application development technically challenging? What 
> type of challenges do you face?
> 

Most of the challenges for me are the aesthetic things when they fall in my lap (mostly someone else
comes up with the graphic design, etc.).

> - What do you spend most of your time doing? HTML/CSS, programming 
> (Java, C#, PHP), SQL, managing databases, etc.?
> 

All of those except Java and PHP. Don't leave VB.Net out either - it is used in a lot of places, and 
many managers and people doing the hiring don't realize that VB.Net is really C# w/o the curly 
brackets <g>

In my case, things tend to be data intensive right now.

> - Do you see a strong future in web application development?
> 

Hmmm - good question... I really don't know because it seems to be perceived more and more as a
'commodity' skill. Are you in the U.S.? If so, the bad news is offshoring, the good news is there
seems to be dissatisfaction with a lot of it and the cost is going up. I sense that some large 
companies are coming to the conclusion that it might not make sense to gut their IT workforce for 
the chance at a nominal and perhaps fleeting 5-10% savings in a high value dept., but who knows? 
Plus the baby-boomers are starting to retire and growing economies overseas need there own citizens 
doing the IT work too <g>

Right now I do contract work in a small to mid-size dept. for a large company. The requirements and
number of quick-hitting small to mid-size projects seem to work against successfully offshoring
because the developer is also intimate with the business along with the implementation, and
offshoring would just add more specs., unknowns and complexity. Business knowledge + the ability to
come up with and develop effective / elegant technical solutions w/o forcing someone to write 
perfect specs. are the key.

> - Why are you attracted to D if you are web application developer?
> 

I do all sorts of stuff.

> If you are more like me (desktop applications, systems programming):
> 
> - Would you ever consider doing web application development? Why or why 
> not?
> 

Really no reason not to be good at both, unless you have a life outside of work <g>

> One of my biggest fears is that I would lose my edge as a "hard core 
> programmer solving technically challenging problems". Is this a 
> legitimate fear?
> 

I invent things to do as long as they make business sense <g>, but that is a legitimate concern IMHO
because of the number of 3rd party tools that abstract-out many of the challenges (because so many
projects use the same technologies).

> Any other comments are welcome. If you have some resources you like to 
> share to help make my decision, please do so.
> 

Take a look at salary and occupational stats. on the web if your concerned about the outlook for
this type of work. Bottom line is that if you like it, you'll probably be good at it, and if you're
good at it, you'll probably do well.

Things tend to go in cycles - in a few years some form of 'desktop' development might be hot again
because AJAX didn't live up to the hype or is not secure enough - who knows?

> Thanks.
> 
> Jason