Re: Dinosaurs

Dennis,

I couldn't have said it better myself. Other than quickly creating a table
or someting, I would never, ever use Front Page, Dream Weaver or any other
utility. It keeps you from learning and growing. I prefer to write my own
code, thanks.

Stephen Sidman


----- Original Message -----
From: "Dennis Lapcewich" <Dennis.Lapcewich(at)unisa.edu.au>
To: "hwg-basics" <hwg-basics(at)hwg.org>
Cc: "'Steven Antonio'" <santonio(at)delanet.com>; "'Ted Temer'"
<temer(at)c-zone.net>
Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2000 2:19 PM
Subject: RE: Dinosaurs


> Ted's comments seem to sum it up best, yet I will add an additional
thought.
>
> Before HTML tools reach a sophisticated level comparable to current word
> processing programs, I believe there will be a fork in the road between
those
> coders who use the pseudo-HTML programs such as FrontPage with its
proprietary
> and massive code bloat, and those users who use a higher end tool where
one is
> able to work directly with the code and/or WYSIWYG as circumstances
warrant, to
> create pages which are lean, fast, efficient and coded correctly.
>
> This is similar to kids raised today using calculators to do basic maths,
as
> well as trig, calculus, etc.  Since many apparently are not trained in
pencil
> and paper math anymore, remove the batteries and they lack the foundation
of
> math concepts and rote learning (the times tables) necessary.  Just ask
any
> checkout chick (Australian slang, no offense intended) when you approach
the
> counter with only one item at a two-for-one sale.  They never learned
maths
> with a pencil and paper so they will stand there numb because they don't
know
> how to enter it into the cash register (I kid you not - I see this almost
> daily.).
>
> The same applies to HTML tools.  If these new generation tools are
developed
> out of FP we can expect slower and slower response times as these bloated
pages
> waste bandwidth.  And for the same reasons, too, these latter coders won't
be
> able to tweak and update the code to make it leaner and meaner because
they
> never learned to code properly, and instead relied on poorly designed
tools.
> Don't expect a real bun fight between two or more equally and competitive
HTML
> tool designers (such as we used to have with Wordstar, and later
WordPerfect
> and Word), because the market is skewed heavily towards poorer quality
WYSIWYG
> coder bloaters from the onset.  The better-quality HTML tools are already
niche
> market items (even if they dominate the professional market) because they
don't
> have the overall market dominance necessary to force the issue, i.e., true
> market competition (a latter day VHS vs Beta war will never happen).
>
> It will only be the "real" coders who can force the HTML tool developers
to
> create next generation tools that create pages which are lean, fast,
efficient
> and coded correctly.  Unfortunately, I do not see this happening.  But the
> dinosaurs will continue to exist for the foreseeable future because 1)
there
> will always be a need to produce quality the first time around, 2) there
will
> be a growing need to fix poor quality pages as clients find the code
bloater
> programs do not return the bottom line for them, and 3) those coders only
> raised on the market-dominated and poorer quality coder bloater programs
will
> lack the necessary foundation skills to get their high-tech hands dirty
when
> problems develop.
>
> In short, if you move with the times you will go with the times, but those
> coders not raised, trained and experienced at  code level development
areas
> will still lose out.  You gotta lean to crawl before you can walk and you
gotta
> walk before you can run.  :)
>
>
>
> Dennis
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
> Dennis Lapcewich - Webmaster
> ITS Corporate Web Services
> University of South Australia
> Adelaide, Australia
> Dennis.Lapcewich(at)UniSA.edu.au
> www.unisa.edu.au
>
>
>

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