If you have been in the web development industry for a few years, chances are you have heard about, got mad at (read "utterly angry"), and fought against browser compatibility issues in Internet Explorer 6. Now don't get me wrong, I don't mean to say anything bad about it (meaning I'm just glad since I don't have to work with it anymore), but this post was inspired by Chris Heilmann's article HTML5 for XP now! and particularly by a link in it: Internet Explorer 6 Countdown.
After checking it out, I must admit I found it a bit odd for Microsoft to "bury" its own baby. I mean, they could have left it silently slip out of the web scene. However, since it reigned for so long, in order to make it go extinct, they actually had to step up and do something about it themselves, rather then just let people upgrade or switch browsers. So, in my opinion that's just like saying "yeah, we made a mistake...".
So, if you haven't ever been forced to resort to hacks, IE-specific stylesheets etc. you can call yourself a lucky web developer. I am curious if there are such developers today, because sometimes I still hear "cross-browser", or "IE issues" and after I don't feel chills running down my spine anymore, the first thing I feel like saying is "Oh, that takes me back...". A few years from now I'm sure people will still remember the name of IE6 (and fear it) even though it will be long gone, and a few years later still my kids will ask "Dad, have you ever heard of IE6? Is it true that most of the development time was used to fix IE6 issues?". My answer will be "Yes, it is true, so be good if you don't ever want to use it for browsing...".
I'm pretty certain IE6 will be a sort of boogie man for future generations of web developers.
joi, 7 aprilie 2011
marți, 5 aprilie 2011
Be nice to developers
Lately I have been reading Scott Rosenberg's book, Dreaming in code and besides all the interesting ideas and stories therein, one quote in particular stuck in my mind "Our civilization runs on software".
If you think about it, every item we use on a day to day basis, relies on software to function. If that's true, then it's safe to say that software developers make the world go round. This may be one way to explain why more and more people are getting into the software industry (this includes developers, testers, managers, marketers, distributors - you name it - of course, not necessarily in that order).
Which brings me to my point. A friend of mine once told me an interesting story. He was in a restaurant abroad and since he is a very good cook, he wasn't happy with the way the food he ordered was prepared. Rather than complain to the waiter, he left his food and went away. Intrigued by this I asked him what was his reason for doing so. He told me that it is never wise to argue with people who prepare or serve your food... and you can imagine why.
I have to admit it made perfect sense to me. Besides, if one person doesn't like something (in this case, the way some food is prepared), that doesn't mean there isn't someone who actually loves it that way (except for a few cases in which the food is very bad prepared). And if that's true for food, which is something we need on a daily basis, why wouldn't it be also true for software?
So in closing, if you don't mess with people who prepare and serve your food, you certainly don't want to mess with people who code your software. Remember, the people who cook your food, rely on software to get the recipes right.
Don't mess with us, we control every aspect of your modern life...
If you think about it, every item we use on a day to day basis, relies on software to function. If that's true, then it's safe to say that software developers make the world go round. This may be one way to explain why more and more people are getting into the software industry (this includes developers, testers, managers, marketers, distributors - you name it - of course, not necessarily in that order).
Which brings me to my point. A friend of mine once told me an interesting story. He was in a restaurant abroad and since he is a very good cook, he wasn't happy with the way the food he ordered was prepared. Rather than complain to the waiter, he left his food and went away. Intrigued by this I asked him what was his reason for doing so. He told me that it is never wise to argue with people who prepare or serve your food... and you can imagine why.
I have to admit it made perfect sense to me. Besides, if one person doesn't like something (in this case, the way some food is prepared), that doesn't mean there isn't someone who actually loves it that way (except for a few cases in which the food is very bad prepared). And if that's true for food, which is something we need on a daily basis, why wouldn't it be also true for software?
So in closing, if you don't mess with people who prepare and serve your food, you certainly don't want to mess with people who code your software. Remember, the people who cook your food, rely on software to get the recipes right.
Don't mess with us, we control every aspect of your modern life...
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