Its been quite a while since I have been focusing on web development and related avenues. One thing is for sure! It is a really funny place to be in!

PLATFORMS

Web designing is no longer about some html-tags and css attributes concerning only the normal computer user. There are a variety of platforms that are being used for accessing information. It leads to more and more developer environments with newer functionality. The designer branches out to specialize in each one of them at each stage of development leading to multiple roles.

CATCHING UP

The biggest problem for a web developer nowadays is staying updated with the latest advancements in the web-o-sphere. The amount of content related to the field is getting enormously large by the minute. New technologies change the way content is being perceived. Just when you finish trying out and experimenting with some prevailing method, you find a better method already  available and then you turn your  focus on it. The notion of browsers and feed readers to just relay the articles has now changed to providing  the content that is relevant. Intelligent systems rely on the user activity to chuck out what is not needed for the user. Thanks to some really nifty web applications, we can still survive.

DOC-TYPES

There is  clearly a lot of buzz related to the future of web standards. There are people who support either xhtml 2.0 or html5, bombarding each other with valid reasons that cannot be dismissed by any at this early stage. There are people moving from xhtml 1.0 to older doc-types  like HTML 4.0 stating it would be easier as it provides the ‘minimal mental shift’. Other people just want to choose a side when its ready and supported by all browsers and would gladly continue the current standard of xhtml 1.0. I think people should start using the next level of specifications and only then we can elevate them to the next standard! Fortunately there are a lot of examples and good articles  that can give newbies a taste of these processions.

FONT-EMBEDDING

CSS3 @font-face is going to relieve the old web-fonts that have  served us well over past years. It is time to give them a rest and give a look into new types .  It may take some time but it seems to be the way we are going. Embedding fonts in websites seems to have disheartened many type foundries as fonts can be easily downloaded. Even when typekit was announced, people were unhappy. This time it was the customers who already had a license and expressed discomfort is buying a license through typekit again.

BROWSERS WOES IE6

Everyday I hear people cursing the hell out of IE6! I mean it is a ‘trending topic’ that just refuses to die. I wish it did! Many designers have nightmares when it comes to optimizing their website with IE6 which still many ignorant people seem to love.  Microsoft is desperately trying to make up for some lost ground by some rather weird advertisements and campaigns for IE8. Many netizens deal with IE6 by simply ignoring its existence,  use hacks,  javascript workarounds or by simply blocking the browser access. A smarter option would be to use a generic stylesheet for IE6 that simply displays the content in a structured manner.

AND MORE NEW PROBLEMS

Its like Microsoft keeps on committing new and new mistakes with Outlook 2010 deciding to go with table based layouts for viewing HTML emails disabling the goodness of CSS. Okay! So what do people who care do? Send a strong word! Fix it! Microsoft responds and defends their reasons to use the Word rendering engine and the discussion rages on. Just when we thought about the standards support of IE8 and the browser moving towards the right direction; Imagine, having to do table-based layouts for your emails.

With all these different options and  methods prevailing, its really amazing how the developer community sticks together and engages in generative discussions to push us all towards a future that is  bright and promising. After all its our funny little world of web design!