In this week’s episode of Om and Niall PodSessions we talk about newly popularized methods of interaction within web applications. JavaScript, Ajax, and Flash have all seen a huge surge in demand and mindshare over the past year. What is the current state of the technology and is there enough talent to step up and fill the demand?
JavaScript developers need to account for a variety of different implementations and parsers across browser platforms. You need to apply special tricks and hacks to the interaction experience consistent and dependable. I’d prefer to develop for the latest version of Firefox only and tell the world to upgrade, but in reality there are rich web applications such as the new Yahoo! Mail with 250 million users using a variety of software from around the world.
Each new version of Flash player opens up some new features such as native XML handling, better video codecs, view source, and the ability to expose hyperlinks within your app. I think Flash is a clear winner in online video, but I think JavaScript provides a better, more lightweight model for general interaction.
Towards the end of the podcast we discuss the role these new technologies might play in the enterprise, where connections are fast, servers are close by and often underutilized, and software is generally standardized for all users.
The podcast, JavaScript Web Applications, is 25 minutes long, a 11.7 MB download. A full transcript is available for reading and easy citations.