Doing what I do...

Hey All,

I could do a bunch of different things and write a bunch of ideas. Recently, I have been working on ExtJS more and more. I think it is ok and the built-in functionality you get are really nice. However, for most static sites I have seen a bunch of different things... MVC3, and then have the server "serve" up the html for the client. Some people don't like the server to do that much work, but for validation, you always need to rely on server side validation, and with some of the tools with Microsoft Entity Framework and SqlCE, it is really easy to create some simple database sites. Let's see, what else... I am learning more and more about the Razor view engine and linq. Linq really is nice and provides some really great functionality.

Let's see what else. My room is back in order, and I'm working on getting some templates together for some side projects. I really like getting things organized and helping others get some base stuff configured. I think the best way I learn is listening to someone else and then doing it myself. I will do my best to help others learn. I have taken some time off from teaching but I think I really do enjoy it and want to get it back on track. I don't want to over-commit, but I think it will be really good for me to keep my talents sharp. I learn more and more each time I teach something. I want to see if I can just type randomly tomorrow morning and see what happens. Of course I am using Windows 7, but it is on my iMac, which is really funny. I'm definitely a .Net developer. I love it and love the power of the language. Now that things are moving more and more to the client (Dojo/ExtJS/JQuery), I think web development is going to become more of a service rather than html/static development.

For static/marketing pages with some content updates, I would suggest a simple SqlCE database with some static pages and an admin interface that allows the marketing people to update the database with content. Sure there is drupal and joomla, and of course sharepoint, but why over-do what you really need. I always come back to that, and people tend to over-engineer things because they think they need to use this amazing new technology (whatever it may be)...

A few years ago (around 1998) everyone was saying you can write real code on the server and have the browser just render what the server does, then we shifted to saying everything is great if we move it to the client so the server resources aren't wasted on tasks that can be pushed to the client, now with MVC3 and Razor, the push is back on the server and the code behind is gone, and it is migrating back to classic ASP again. The cycle of technology is really fascinating... everyone thinks that "their idea" is the greatest... but the kool-aid is getting harder to drink when you have had many flavors and it all tastes a little funny. :-)

I think people have access to too much information and they trust everything if it is supported by a few blogs. We are forgetting things more and more. We are relying on the internet as our memory banks. We are looking up diagnosis on WebMD or Wikipedia and then go see our doctors. We have no patience for anything because tv sums up life in a 30 minute sitcom. We forgot what it is like to work for something and get it 6 months later. We want it now... or within a week... But 6 months? OMG, that is forever. Try to tell a child, that they need to go to a library, find an actual dictionary, and look up a word to get a definition (as they pull out their iPhone, google the word, and say, "whatever"). I remember reading an encyclopedia when I was kid because that was exciting to learn new things. It was amazing... and yes, I was "that" kid. I remember when I wanted to quit swimming after 2 meets and my mom made me finish the season, yeah, it sucked, but I felt really good that I finished it, and love swimming now because of it. Imagine if I told a drill sergeant in Basic, that I did really want to finish the run, and if he could arrange a ride back to the barracks that would be great. Kids have little respect for adults, they have no fear of consequences because the best consequence they have is time alone, because any other punishment is considered cruel. And the truth is most of them crave to have time alone, so why is that a punishment? I remember when my mom sent me to my room, I was generally excited, me, my room, and my computer... what more could I ask for? Unfortunately, my mom was a smart one a took the power box for my commodore. So what did I end up doing? I read. I read Commodore 64 programmer's reference guide cover to cover. I wrote code on paper and filled in graph paper with sprites and then marked off the data that way. It was really helpful... then I would do my homework, and usually do more than I should... but school today has gotten so competitive that kids have too much homework, too little caring teachers, and very few parents who can keep up with their kids homework themselves. I don't know, I'm rambling tonight because I am watching service packs install and hoping that I will finish writing after the service pack installs, but I don't think that will be the case. It is on 1 out of 8, and it hasn't really moved since then. :-) Anyway, BigBrother is on tonight, Football tomorrow night, and I'm still working out randomly.. at least 2x a week, which is better than nothing. :-) I'm definitely eating better also. Hope you are having a great day. I'm headed out now. Have a good night and thanks for stopping by.