Submission + - Beyond Ajax: Software Development, 2 Years Hence
Esther Schindler writes: Ajax has dramatically changed the lives of Web developers during the past two years, but the next two may be even more interesting. Developers—spurred by user expectations, rapidly evolving business models and ever-changing development processes—will need to do things they can't even imagine today. And how can a forward-thinking IT department or entrepreneur—who is so dependent on innovative software developers—prepare for that future?
In a set of five articles, beginning with Beyond Ajax, CIO.com interviewed the tool builders. Their vision of the computing future will shape the tools they build, which means those are the programming tools you'll use in a few years to build your own applications. But while CIO.com spoke with vendors, it was the techies, not the marketroids: folks like Tim Bray, Scott Guthrie, David Intersimone. Input was solicited from both vendors of proprietary software (such as Microsoft and Adobe) and open source projects (such as the Dojo Toolkit, and Open Laszlo).
Their predictions address the next round of developer opportunities, problems—and consequences. The articles cover a range of subjects, from The Convergence of Desktop, Web and Mobile Clients to UI changes (the immersive, cinematic interface) to evolving development tools which should make software development easier (what Dojo's Alex Russell called "Interceding with the Browser gods").
But Are Web Browsers Ready for the Next Generation of Internet Applications? Probably not, according to Tim Bray, who said, "The people who make a living building Web apps and tools for them live on a different planet than the people who build browsers." All those problems... er, challenges were packaged up and handed to the folks who run Mozilla and IE, and the browser dudes responded about making the Internet trustworthy, standards-compatible and innovative. ("All three at once? That's the tough part.")
In a set of five articles, beginning with Beyond Ajax, CIO.com interviewed the tool builders. Their vision of the computing future will shape the tools they build, which means those are the programming tools you'll use in a few years to build your own applications. But while CIO.com spoke with vendors, it was the techies, not the marketroids: folks like Tim Bray, Scott Guthrie, David Intersimone. Input was solicited from both vendors of proprietary software (such as Microsoft and Adobe) and open source projects (such as the Dojo Toolkit, and Open Laszlo).
Their predictions address the next round of developer opportunities, problems—and consequences. The articles cover a range of subjects, from The Convergence of Desktop, Web and Mobile Clients to UI changes (the immersive, cinematic interface) to evolving development tools which should make software development easier (what Dojo's Alex Russell called "Interceding with the Browser gods").
But Are Web Browsers Ready for the Next Generation of Internet Applications? Probably not, according to Tim Bray, who said, "The people who make a living building Web apps and tools for them live on a different planet than the people who build browsers." All those problems... er, challenges were packaged up and handed to the folks who run Mozilla and IE, and the browser dudes responded about making the Internet trustworthy, standards-compatible and innovative. ("All three at once? That's the tough part.")
