Web Development in 2021

First of all, I am starting this article late and I may run out of steam halfway through. I am going to publish and tweet about it anyway. So, if you are reading this, disclaimer presented. I will try to pick it up later.

Stick to the Standards

I spent the last decade exploring ways to make computers more efficient through various methods off the path. First, I wasted a lot of time. Second, I solidified my trust for existing standards. Furthermore, I have learned that standards help in ways that are not obvious up front. Lets explore.

Databases

Every major computer system and almost every computer program utilizes a database in some way. That leads there to be a vast market of database vendors to help. I am going to present my opinon that we are using this year.

SQL is standard of choice. Learning and knowing this language will give you an insight into so many different major database programs and will really provide the tools needed to make high performance websites.

My vendor of choice is MariaDB. I had to do some research on what happened with MySQL to better understand. Here is my conclusion, which could be wrong, that the MySQL name got sold to Oracle along with some key rights. Meanwhile, MariaDB used the proceeds of that sale to fund the original developers to continue their efforts. This is why MariaDB is becoming the vendor of choice now.

Display

There is not much to say in this section. HTML is the best language for every part of web display. However, any time there is a chance to use Markdown I think its great. Otherwise, you cannot beat raw text, humans read it quickly when formatted well.

HTML is a standard that will keep your pages looking the same for the last 30 years and will continue to do so well into the future.

CSS is going to be the choice for artistic expression. The cascading method is a great way for config files and style sheets alike.

Logic

I started out with PHP, then I learned Python. Now I know a lot about C. In the meantime to make my webpages better I learned JavaScript.

If I had a time machine, I would have learned JavaScript and stuck to it. PHP is a great language but the power of the new ecosystem is immense. I can build applications that are based on a well supported standard that is going to last very long into the future.

This way, I know programs I am writing are going to work when I login to add a new feature.

Why it Matters

To finish this article up. I want to explain why these choices matter.

Efficency

My time and brain power to code is the most limited resource available. The more efficient I can be and the less side work I do the more progress I can make.

Each of these choices to rely on standards makes sure that programs I write today will work tomorrow. Without the backing of these large group standards, there is no surety of this. I cannot stress enough how important that surety is.

If you write a lot of programs or complex programs, any of these setbacks from a changing dependency can be a damaging setback to the progress of your project. Using these standards will safeguard against the unexpected.

Learn the Hard Way

I could have probably been told this long ago and saved myself a lot of time. However, I was young and had to make sure what I knew was right. I am thankful that I learned the good standards first by accident so I was able to gravitate back to them after learning why.

Thanks for reading and if you have any reaction let me know!

I am leaving the disclaimer for the fun of it. Thanks again for the read.