ACM TechNews

The Web Development Skills Crisis

InfoWorld (07/10/08) McAllister, Neil

Web developers face a difficult challenge maintaining their skill sets in an environment where the latest technologies are constantly changing, writes Neil McAllister. Writing a traditional, standards-based Web application means writing JavaScript code, which, unlike traditional programming languages such as C and Java, does not have a standard function library, giving developers a dozen AJAX libraries to choose from. There are also tools that attempt to eliminate the JavaScript dilemma, such as Google's Web Toolkit, which allows developers to write applications in Java and compile them down to JavaScript for execution in the browser. Proprietary platforms based on plug-ins, such as Curl, Flash, and Silverlight, offer developers more consistency and stability. However, each of these platforms has a unique development methodology and familiarity with one does not necessarily translate to the others. McAllister says that the current market fragmentation creates a skills crisis, with no single Web developer being able to excel at all of the technologies, particularly when the development methodologies behind some of the technologies are virtual opposites. He says the most agile developers are those who approach programming with a solid background in computer science.

http://weblog.infoworld.com/fatalexception/archives/2008/07/
the_web_develop.html

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