Thoughts for 2005
Posted by Jesse Rodgers on January 04, 2005 at 11:54 AM
Here is the required ‘predictions’ post for the new year. As my mind gets back into work, this is actually a useful exercise – call it my top three tasks for 2005.
sIFR
Here at UW we have a font issue, mainly the title of departments and such are a font that is not easy to get. The solution? Up until now it has been to have Graphics make a title for you. No more (I hope). sIFR has come onto the scene and wow does it look good at first glance. Currently nearing version 2.0, the original article explains it all best. I am exploring how it could be built into a template so the masses only have to worry about the text and the proper font appears. Since I am working on the template, this is high on the ‘todo’ pile.
Essential tools for web development and web management
You have forums, blogs, wikis, Macromedia products, image editors, CSS editors, text editors, sftp/ftp/webDAV, versioning, RSS feed readers, web browsers, operating systems, PHP/ASP/JS/Perl/bleh scripts, project management, bug tracking, etc. But what should you be using? One thing is for sure there is no one tool that covers it all. What is that? Content Management System (CMS) you say? Well a CMS could have all those things or a few but if it’s a CMS it definitely has at least two. Is a CMS app the solution or is the philosophy of CMS just another ‘tool?’ Something to think about, plan to put fingers to keyboard and explore this some more.
LAMP/Web application development
Like it or not web apps are going to explode on campus over 2005. There is a demonstrated need on campus for more advanced web development. Application development is the logical step for a lot of areas. The introduction of a supported LAMP box at UW in early 2004 was inevitable but it also opens the gates. The AMP platform is very powerful and easy to use. It really can do the basic stuff most high priced application packages offer if you have the time to code.
It is also easy to make bad apps. So please, think before you code. If anything can be learned from the PHP/phpBB security *issues right before the holidays, nothing is totally secure so if you are venturing into app development you need to be diligent. No write once, ignore forever apps. Also if you install a PHP app on a server you should keep it up-to-date and keep on top of security issues (with LAMP, you don’t need a sysadmin to install some applications).
End thought
Well how about someone else’s list? There are tons of lists out there but I will point you to a couple:
- My Coding List for 2005 – Derek
- Predictions for 2005 – Drew
Alright back to work.