Future of the web: developer paradise

Being a web nut, I planned for "The Future of Web Applications" by Ben Galbraith and Dion Almaer. The web as platform is a compelling case - at least in my view. (Software is moving to the web to a large degree, even applications traditionally viewed as desktop applications. Because web-based software per definition is directed at the broadest user base possible, it must be better than desktop software in every way: faster, simpler, more usable, sexier, and more functional).

It was exciting to see the presenters outline the many factors contributing to the web as platform. First, as Dion stressed, there's the browser runtime. Recent improvements in JavaScript virtual machines make it run exponentially faster than before! This makes possible some crazy real-time, computationally heavy JavaScript programs.

Then there's the "web in everywhere". What is the next stage of web evolution? Interestingly, it is ceasing to be "web only" - breaking out of the traditional sandbox. The web on the desktop and the web on devices (or is it devices on the web?) - how about that? Personally, I think this is both logical and desirable. Logical because the web can theoretically "be" on every device that is capable of connecting to it. Desirable because a standardized platform is a good platform. So I know which platform I'd rather develop for!

Kudos to Palm for being the 1st mobile company to embrace web as platform. (As Ben mentioned it they are unlikely to remain the only one).

Text, box, image - these largely remain were the primitives of web development. Therefore it's amazing to see how sophisticated things can get with only these basic concepts.
 
What an evolution the web has undergone. Not long ago developers needed to create pages for 2-3 different browsers, each with multiple versions. Now, with each year, there appear numerous tools for development, testing, profiling, and just experimenting with the latest technologies, which are both standardized and cutting-edge. The presentation was just a glimpse of what will be; it made abundantly clear, however, that we have come a long way since the blink tag.