"You believe that the web is such a broken application platform that it is possible to convince enough vendors and people to get behind a better solution. However, I...have been around long enough to know that will never happen."
"That's not to say that the web might not some be supplanted by something better..."
Whomever wrote the first paragraph of your comment should get in touch with the person who wrote the second paragraph.
OK, seriously, though, let's summarize:
1) Person says "web development sucks, here's why: $REASONS"
2) You reply: "it's the only truly cross-platform development environment ever"
3) I (and others) reply: "no, it really isn't. it isn't even a development environment, by any reasonable measure."
Now you're putting words in my mouth about convincing vendors and starting movements. I'm not trying to start a revolution here, just trying to counter the notion that we can't do any better than the pile of junk we've adopted. You don't have to love your captors!
I have no idea if someone will come up with a revolutionary, grand unified solution tomorrow, but I know that this process starts with the acknowledgement that what we have sucks, and that we have lots of examples of better solutions to work from. Hell...just having a well-defined set of 1995-era UI components defined as a standard would be a quantum leap forward in terms of application development.
The irony is I understand your qualitative opinion of the web, and I generally agree with it. What I believe makes you unable to see my argument is an inability to separate technical excellence from the market dynamics that govern adoption.
Declaring the web "not even a development environment" is just absolutist rhetoric that can in no way further the conversation. If you define "development environment" as a traditional GUI toolkit then your're just creating a tautology to satisfy your own outrage.
This is a great discussion. What is it about the English language that makes it so much easier to oppose someone than express nuances in general opinion? I would like to see more discussions like this based at implementation level, surely something valuable and innovative is being grasped at by both sides.
Lets be honest, the web is a developer environment in the same way that a paper aeroplane is a passenger plane. I mean I'm sure its possible to create a 747 from paper, but do you really want to?
Why is it that a new javascript framework pops up each week? Its because the web as a developer environment is deficient. Despite it being standardised so much stuff doesn't work without kludges in each browser
"That's not to say that the web might not some be supplanted by something better..."
Whomever wrote the first paragraph of your comment should get in touch with the person who wrote the second paragraph.
OK, seriously, though, let's summarize:
1) Person says "web development sucks, here's why: $REASONS"
2) You reply: "it's the only truly cross-platform development environment ever"
3) I (and others) reply: "no, it really isn't. it isn't even a development environment, by any reasonable measure."
Now you're putting words in my mouth about convincing vendors and starting movements. I'm not trying to start a revolution here, just trying to counter the notion that we can't do any better than the pile of junk we've adopted. You don't have to love your captors!
I have no idea if someone will come up with a revolutionary, grand unified solution tomorrow, but I know that this process starts with the acknowledgement that what we have sucks, and that we have lots of examples of better solutions to work from. Hell...just having a well-defined set of 1995-era UI components defined as a standard would be a quantum leap forward in terms of application development.