In this Web 2.0 Journal article, a long-time Java developer describes his experiences (and frustrations) in moving from Java to JavaScript to develop Web 2.0 and AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) applications.
First of all, there are no great integrated development environments for JavaScript, at least not of the same level as those for Java or C#. Furthermore, debugging is a pain and most people resort to printf-like debugging, although there are browser-specific debuggers such as Venkman for Firefox and Microsoft Script Debugger for IE.
The good news is that we are still learning how to build JavaScript-based applications and that the tools are improving. Furthermore, most of the best practices in software development still hold, such as the use of libraries so that you don't have to reinvent (and redebug) the wheel, the use of unit testing, and the use of patterns. One site that deserves a lot of attention if you are developing Web 2.0 applications is AjaxPatterns.org.
Posted by admin at July 11, 2006 09:03 AM