
Are web 2.0 and sound software engineering practices incompatible? - amichail

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amichail
It seems to me that web 2.0 is essentially a race. The faster you get your
service launched -- no matter how buggy -- the better your chances.

Consider for example the importance of getting your facebook app out as
quickly as possible.

In such an environment, you might expect many good software engineering
practices (e.g., unit test cases) to go out the window.

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brlewis
Yes and no. Launching quickly can be an advantage. Bugs or slowness can be a
disadvantage. Often times people don't have time to revisit a site. They check
it out once, and if they don't like it they never come back. It's important
not to overmarket your site.

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jsjenkins168
Google has tried to solve this with the Google Web Toolkit.

Robust Web 2.0 functionality, but backed by rigid static type checking and
unit testing. This provides sound software engineering practices for large
projects with many developers involved.

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pg
No; in fact the phrase "Web 2.0" is popular with much the same people as the
phrase "software engineering."

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amichail
Maybe so, but I don't see how this implies that sound software engineering
practices are compatible with web 2.0 startups.

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tx
In web space most of software has already been engineered and put up online
for you to grab for free: just plug in your database, stick your own queries
and skin it with your own CSS.

