There was a time when Web development was
about CGI scripting, JavaScript, and Java. Not any more. A series of
articles from various sources suggest that a career path focused on
honing skills for Web-ware (Web + Software) development can pay rich
dividends. Now on scene goes ASP.NET for Windows and Mono for Linux, JAVA and PHP.
APIs everywhere
Social networking has been booming and so has the avenue to monetize
from the increased user base, so much so that firms have realized that
the best strategy to capture market share is to have a roster of
developer-converts a.k.a the users to chug out applications. It’s a
win-win situation. The company gets the benefit of increased adoption
due to increased utility. The developers get a share of revenue their
apps generate. And the recent announcement from codeplex.com that it will
reward developers creating same apps
is just the beginning. LinkedIN and MySpace, other
popular social networking sites will also be releasing their APIs soon.
Online Competitions
Competitions provide an understanding of a person's capabilities
through a demonstration of skill. What was lacking in the world of
programming competitions was a format that offered immediate and objective scoring. The solution was the creation of a "Single Round Match", after that development, and then topcoder.com.
Mash-ups
Also, Google announced a mega mash-up to mash all mash-ups, opening
another opportunity for wannabe Web developers to take the plunge. Mash-ups
are a technique to merge various services (such as Google Maps) to
tailor data from various sources to user-specific needs (such as mark
out local grocery stores on a region map). Mash-ups rely heavily on
AJAX technology (it’s a debate whether AJAX is a new technology as such
since the features were always there, but let’s not get into that).
Here’s a blog I scooped from the Net as a starting point for mash-ups development.
And if you are still wondering if it’s all worth the effort, apart
from the fact that Web development can be a deeply gratifying
experience, perhaps this piece from silicon.com can give more reasons for you to start.