Web development is a broad term for the work involved in developing a web site for the World Wide Web or an intranet.
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73answers
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What should every programmer know about web development?
What things should a programmer implementing the technical details of a web application consider before making the site public? If Jeff Atwood can forget about HttpOnly cookies, sitemaps, and ...
200
votes
39answers
100k views
Why isn't Java used for modern web application development? [closed]
As a professional Java programmer, I've been trying to understand - why the hate toward Java for modern web applications?
I've noticed a trend that out of modern day web startups, a relatively small ...
113
votes
27answers
8k views
Is constantly looking for code examples a sign of a bad developer?
I am a CS student with several years of experience in C and C++, and for the last few years I've been constantly working with Java/Objective C doing app development and now I have switched to web ...
59
votes
27answers
4k views
How important is graceful degradation of JavaScript?
Should web developers continue to spend effort progressively enhancing our web applications with JavaScript, ensuring that features gracefully degrade, thereby ensuring accessibility? Or should we ...
57
votes
16answers
3k views
How to stop the development spec from changing in mid development?
Problem: It seems with almost every development effort I'm involved in, no matter how much time is spent planning prior to starting development, there is always a large amount of changes required ...
57
votes
19answers
5k views
Should I Bother To Develop for JavaScript Disabled?
The question is in the title "Should I Bother To Develop for JavaScript Disabled?"
I feel that my time is better spent developing for the majority?
45
votes
19answers
5k views
Servicing background tasks on a large site
We're dealing with an interesting problem on StackOverflow.
We've got a whole bunch of little "needs to be done soon-ish" tasks. An example is updating "Related Questions" lists. What we've done in ...
42
votes
4answers
2k views
What is REST (in simple English)
Lately I have become interested in familiarizing myself with REST. I tried reading wiki entry on REST, but it was of no help. I would really appreciate it if someone can explain in simple English ...
37
votes
13answers
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Is it bad interview practice to have candidates write a linked-list implementation?
Reading this site and SO I've seen many stories of interview questions and answers saying a candidate had to implement a linked list from scratch. Usually this is a "gimme" exercise for programming ...
36
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6answers
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How safe are hidden AJAX requests that fake performance?
What is a hidden AJAX request?
I've noticed an increase in the usage of hidden AJAX requests designed to make a user's action appear to happen immediately. I'll refer to this type of AJAX request as ...
36
votes
6answers
1k views
Logging failed login attempts exposes passwords
I started logging failed logins attempts on my website with a message like
Failed login attempt by qntmfred
I've noticed some of these logs look like
Failed login attempt by qntmfredmypassword
I'm ...
34
votes
15answers
6k views
Fellow programmer used worst programming practices
I know it seems odd to say, but a fellow programmer at work deliberately used a couple of bad programming practices on purpose! I'll explain. First let me say that he's an intelligent guy and for ...
33
votes
15answers
5k views
What would be a good 4-hour development task for a job interview?
We're conducting a job interview for web application developers. First round was an in-depth verbal interview for shortlisting candidates, now comes the second round where selected candidates will ...
33
votes
11answers
2k views
Is it considered bad practice to have PHP in your JavaScript
So many times on this site I see people trying to do things like this :
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function(){
$('<?php echo $divID ?>').click(funtion(){
...
29
votes
10answers
3k views
Why aren't there other client-side scripting languages for websites?
Why is there just support for JavaScript and some VBScript in browsers today? I know JavaScript is good and all, but wouldn't having the option of using another programming language help promote ...
29
votes
8answers
3k views
Is it possible to know what programming language a web-site uses?
For example, stackexchange.com, without asking the site owner or Google their information about developing the website, is this possible to know what language is used in the back end?
Seems, the ...
29
votes
6answers
1k views
Transition from a “look ma, I can do this” web developer to someone who creates products that people and businesses can rely on
I am doing web development for the past 6 years. But somehow, I never got the feeling that I did a good job. I always felt that my code was not production quality. I felt like someone who delivers ...
28
votes
7answers
18k views
How do I learn Python from zero to web development? [closed]
I am looking into learning Python for web development.
Assuming I already have some basic web development experience with Java (JSP/Servlets), I'm already familiar with web design (HTML, CSS, JS), ...
28
votes
3answers
1k views
How to train junior programmers for today's (complicated) web environment?
Currently our company develops applications consisting, most of the time, in Ruby on Rails web servers and a bunch of different REST clients, from kiosk systems in Java to embedded devices in C/C++ ...
27
votes
6answers
1k views
How can you learn to design nice looking websites? [closed]
I am a moderately capable web developer. I can put stuff where I want it to go and put some JQuery stuff in there if I need to. However, if I am making my own website (which I am starting to do) I ...
26
votes
21answers
1k views
Perception of a developer that uses a pre-packaged web implementation for their personal site?
Lets say you're a web developer/programmer and you want to set up a personal portfolio site.
Unfortunately, like most people with a full time job and a family, your time is hard to come by. You make ...
26
votes
14answers
3k views
Should a programmer know Linux? [closed]
I'm a PHP/Python programmer learning Java and C#(.NET). My main OS is windows 7 but I've used Linux and currently dual-booting with Ubuntu. My Linux knowledge however, is pretty limited. I can work ...
26
votes
5answers
1k views
Referencing external javascript vs. hosting my own copy
Say I have a web app that uses jQuery. Is it better practice to host the necessary javascript files on my own servers along with my website files, or to reference them on jQuery's CDN (example: ...
26
votes
9answers
3k views
Web versus desktop development - is web development worse? [closed]
As a longtime desktop developer looking at doing our first large-scale web application, what are the pros and cons of doing web development?
Is developing a web application much worse than developing ...
26
votes
12answers
2k views
What advantages does developing applications for smartphones have over developing the same application as a web application?
Let's take the Facebook application as an example. Why did they develop an application when the users could just access to their page and do the same? For me that represents more maintenance and more ...
26
votes
9answers
978 views
Should I be paid for time spent learning a framework?
To give light to the situation: I am currently one of two programmers working in a small startup software company. Part of my job requires me to learn a Web development framework that I am not ...
26
votes
9answers
3k views
What decent web-frameworks exists for functional programming? [closed]
I would like to do some web programming using functional programming. What decent web-frameworks exists for functional programming languages?
25
votes
9answers
7k views
Why do people disable JavaScript?
I asked a question yesterday Should I Bother to Develop For JavaScript Disabled?. I think the consencus is: Yes, I should develop for JavaScript Disabled. Now I just want to understand why users ...
24
votes
5answers
28k views
When to use PHP or ASP.NET? [closed]
I have worked extensively in developing web applications using PHP and ASP.NET, but one of the questions that I'm constantly asked by customers is whether to move forward with a php website or an ...
22
votes
10answers
2k views
How do I pitch ASP.NET over PHP to a potential client?
I work at a Microsoft shop doing mainly web development.
We had a client who asked us to review (improve) the data model for his web app, but said that he wants to develop his app in PHP (he knows "a ...
22
votes
15answers
2k views
Why are most websites optimized for viewing in portrait mode?
I simply cannot figure this out. Almost all monitors have an aspect ratio where width is much bigger than the height and yet almost all websites are designed exactly for the other way round? I am not ...
22
votes
8answers
2k views
What is the best way to divide work among developers
My team and I are rebuilding a site we developed around ten years ago, and we want to do it in Agile.
So after I spent a lot of time reading (probably not enough) I am having trouble with the ...
22
votes
8answers
5k views
Are C and/or C++ viable/practical options for web development? [duplicate]
I am proficient in C, and I am learning C++ right now. I always played with websites (HTML/CSS), and I was wondering if it would be viable/practical to create some simple web apps using C and/or C++.
...
20
votes
6answers
2k views
What is the motivation behind TypeScript?
We had JavaScript, then we had Flash, then we had Silverlight and then HTML5 ownd them all.
So what is the motivation behind TypeScript? What problems are going to be tackled and what improvements ...
20
votes
4answers
15k views
Anyone who has taken 70-515 TS: Web Applications Development with Microsoft .NET Framework 4 exam?
I'm planning to take 70-515 exam and I can't find any training kit for it from MS press at the moment. Therefore, I'm reading the book for 70-562 which covers framework 3.5. I would like to know if ...
20
votes
3answers
1k views
Should MVC/REST return a 403 or 404 for resources belonging to other users?
When working with a resource-based site (such as an MVC application or REST service), we have two main options when a client tries to GET a resource that they don't have access to:
403, which says ...
19
votes
13answers
1k views
Subversion/source control only for production code?
I graduated from college in Computer Science a year ago, and am now working at a small web development company (me and one other developer, plus managers, customer service and tester). Until just ...
19
votes
10answers
2k views
Is it worth moving from Microsoft tech to Linux, NodeJS & other open source frameworks to save money for a start-up?
I am currently getting involved in a startup, I am the only developer involved at the moment, and the other guys are leaving all the tech decisions up to me at the moment.
For my day job I work at a ...
19
votes
6answers
1k views
Do frameworks put too much abstraction?
I've been programming for a little under a year and have some experience writing systems applications, web apps, and scripts for businesses/organizations. However, one thing I've never really done is ...
19
votes
2answers
1k views
Haskell web frameworks survey
There are several web frameworks for Haskell like Happstack, Snap, and Yesod, and probably a few more.
In what aspects do they differ from each other? For example:
features (e.g. server only, or ...
18
votes
15answers
6k views
When is Java a good choice for web development?
When is Java a good choice for web development?
Please do not say "When you have a development team that knows only Java."
18
votes
10answers
2k views
What should web programmers know about cryptography?
Should programmers who build websites/web applications understand cryptography? I have no idea how most crypographic algorithms work, and I really don't understand the differences between ...
18
votes
7answers
3k views
Best approach to learning web programming [closed]
I come from a scientific and embedded programming background, and I have had minimal experience with web programming. What would be the best approach to take to get up to speed with web programming? ...
17
votes
7answers
7k views
Can C++ be used as a server-side web development language?
I'd like to get into web development using C++ as the "scripting language" on the server-side. My server infrastructure is *nix based, so doing web development in C++ on Azure is not applicable and ...
17
votes
10answers
1k views
Best Practices and Etiquette for Setting up Email Notifications
If you were going to set up a Email Alerts for the customers of your website to subscribe to, what rules of etiquette ought to be followed?
I can think of a few off the top of my head:
Users can ...
16
votes
12answers
3k views
What benefits are there to native JavaScript development?
Given how much simpler jQuery development is, when compared to native JavaScript, what makes people forgo libraries like jQuery altogether?
Is this because jQuery has limitations or it is slow? I ...
16
votes
7answers
1k views
Should I use the language I'm most comfortable in, or the company “standard”
I'm going to be developing an Intranet site for my specific plant, and our company standard for web-development is IIS + ASP.Net + VB.Net + Microsoft SQL Server (note that we have about 10+ plants). ...
16
votes
12answers
2k views
What programming language and framework has best support for agile web development? [closed]
If I would like to quickly set up a modern website, what programming language + framework has best support for this? E.g. short and easy to understand code for a beginner and a framework with support ...
16
votes
9answers
5k views
Should I build my own CMS or rely on a pre-built one?
Related: As a beginning programmer, should I favor building my own libraries over using 3rd-party libraries?
As an intermediate to advanced level PHP web-developer and a young one at that ...
16
votes
10answers
412 views
As developers is it our job to report issues if no one else in the org seems to care?
edit:
I should point out; My personal view was that I should be proactive. I know sometimes I have to bite my tongue, and I wanted to get the communities input(was this one of those times).
I ...
