I hate web front ends

[Jaws]

A staff share dealing site I've previously used was dreadful, gave you absolutely no confirmation upon selling your shares and left you with no way of finding out if what you'd done had just gone through, so invariably you'd have to get on the phone to customer services to check.

[xoggoth]

What's a web front end? It sounds groovy, where can I get one?

[EternalOptimist]

I hate web front ends. They are invariably, invariably terrible. You click a button and wait a minute for the next screen, then all the text is deleted randomly, then the browser crashes.

Every system I have ever worked on with a web frontend has been rubbish. I just want to type text then have it saved centrally for other people to see. it should work and be simple.

I spotted this 10 years ago mate, which is why i predicted access was the future and the web was dead

unfortunately, predicting the future was never my strong point

[NickFitz]

I hate web front ends. They are invariably, invariably terrible. You click a button and wait a minute for the next screen, then all the text is deleted randomly, then the browser crashes.

Every system I have ever worked on with a web frontend has been rubbish. I just want to type text then have it saved centrally for other people to see. it should work and be simple.

Most software, web or desktop, sucks because most software developers are fundamentally incompetent and have no interest in improving - they just want what they see as the easy bucks to be made in IT.

Most web front ends suck because writing a resilient front end for a client-server application that will operate over a stateless protocol like HTTP is hard, and most people are too lazy to do "hard", even if they have the necessary knowledge and skills.

There is no reason whatsoever for a web front end to be anything other than as responsive as the network is capable of, and as resilient to failure as a desktop application (preferably more so, given that it isn't reliant on local data storage and the risk of a crash wiping the data out).

But you show me the web developer who understands any of the fundamentals, and I'll pocket a very handy thousand quid as a finder's fee from my clients, who hunt high and low for these people. I'll even buy you a drink if you show me three of them

To qualify, they have to already understand the eight fallacies of distributed computing, and be able to explain the fallaciousness of each one in concrete terms.

If they can do that, they have a fighting chance of writing a web application that addresses your concerns - but only if they're good at applying such understanding to real-world problems.

Nobody ever said this stuff was easy (I faced fewer challenges when I was writing real-time systems in assembly language in the Eighties), yet people seem to think that being able to do a bit of HTML with some JSP/PHP/ASP/WOTEVERSP picked up from easypeasywebbystuff.com makes them a professional... the tragedy being that corporations hire them

[BrilloPad]

Most software, web or desktop, sucks because most software developers are fundamentally incompetent and have no interest in improving - they just want what they see as the easy bucks to be made in IT.

Well thank goodness that will change now most developers are being out sourced to India.

[Masher]

I never thought I'd say it but "can we have a new tax" on web pages that cause "Done" to be displayed in the status bar when they're not bloody done.

[NickFitz]

I never thought I'd say it but "can we have a new tax" on web pages that cause "Done" to be displayed in the status bar when they're not bloody done.

That's a browser issue; for example, Safari doesn't show the same behaviour.

Internet Explorer is, unfortunately, too broken to be of any use as a web browser.

[Jubber]

To qualify, they have to already understand the eight fallacies of distributed computing, and be able to explain the fallaciousness of each one in concrete terms.

If they can do that, they have a fighting chance of writing a web application that addresses your concerns - but only if they're good at applying such understanding to real-world problems.

Well that's fine and dandy if the client wants to play ball and implement a new infrastructure that draws on the above eight.

Unfortunately most of my projects have to use what is in situ and I make recommendations accordingly, then build them. Problem is, as you suggest, we have to make a living and if the client insists on a 'web' front end, even after I have demonstrated that it would not 'work too well' etc... I would still build it and bank the cash.

Generally, in such a situation, I present a much better/faster/easier solution using older technology and they buy it.

[PAH]

Internet Explorer is, unfortunately, too broken to be of any use as a web browser.

What happened to the EU trying to force M$ not to ship IE with Windows?

Until that happens it's like asking someone not to use their own hands. Only those that wish they were terminator bothers with Firefox or other alternatives.

[DieScum]

It just feels things are going backwards sometimes.

While I'm sure it is possible to have a responsive, resilient ( and that is all I am asking!) web front end it just never seems to be the case... hopefully as technology improves.