The new age of software development
I’ve come across a few good articles which I think are worth reading if you are interested in software development and in particular how rich client programming is declining as web client programming is increasing.
Joel Spolsky has written a lengthy analysis of How Microsoft Lost the API War. It definitely opened my eyes a bit as it discusses some of Microsoft’s missteps and just plainly how the industry is changing.
The Guardian discusses the New Browser War, which ties in very well with Spoolsky’s commentary.
Some real-world observations
My roommate Kevin had told me about how Steve Ballmer was upset that people and companies were not buying the latest version of Office. Ballmer had attributed it to poor marketing but Spoolsky hits it on the head, it’s not about marketing but about the saturation of computers. Everyone has a PC and we’re doing just fine with the current version of Word. In the early days people were buying new computers more frequently or even just buying their first. Those new machines came with the latest and greatest software from Microsoft. Unfortunately today people aren’t buying new computers as frequently, especially companies. Thus that new software isn’t getting into the hands of users.
My number one application on my computer is Safari, my web browser. That says a lot about where things are going, as if many people haven’t already realized that. I use more web-based applications than I do rich client software. I’m writing this post in a web-based application. Web applications will get better and I think with projects like Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group that is a good start. Eventually our web apps will look and work more like regular applications, look at Apple’s Dashboard technology which is based on open web standards.
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