The Right Tools

The more websites I build, the more I’m convinced that there is no one right solution. I have just rebuilt a client site using Drupal. I am very impressed with it’s control and ease of updating. I am using the default theme because it seemed to be a good balance of taste and function. The thing that I’m learning that it’s a matter of figuring out what the site needs to do and then using the right tool for the job.

When I was a kid I spent a lot of time under the hood, and under, cars. One of the things my dad taught me was to use the right tool for the job. Don’t use a pair of pliers when a wrench was a better tool. I think that’s what I’m coming to on the web as well. There are some sites that simply need to be a set of static pages that need to be updated on occasion. There are other sites that, like my new client’s, that need to be updated daily or weekly. Those sites can be complicated when a content management system isn’t used. However, content management systems aren’t always the best option for every site. I think it takes an understanding of the content and how the website is going to be used to really be able to understand what tool should be used.

I am a big fan of making sites work across platforms and browsers. I’m also a very big fan of building compliant websites. CMS doesn’t allows conform to the latter as well as hand coding does, so there is a sacrifice to be made there. Of course, the other side of the coin is if a site works properly maybe the standards don’t matter. I don’t subscribe to that though, I think building valid markup and css is important not just as a theoretical exercise, but as a real issue that should be used. One of my major problems with ASP and .Net development for the web is that it tends to neglect any browser or platform that isn’t Internet Explorer or Windows. I think that’s fine if you don’t care, but I think you should. I think taking the time to focus on making sure that other platforms work and are compatible is an important part of being a PROFESSIONAL web developer. If you exclude platforms because you don’t know how or don’t take the time to check on other platforms you are not able to really ensure that the customer who is being served.

Again, this falls to using the right tools. Over the last few years, Microsoft has had a major impact on how websites and software was/is developed. However, I see that tide changing, even with Microsoft products, and it’s time to start focusing on the web as a platform and the computer as the portal to that platform. This should have been done 10 years ago, but Microsoft made that impossible with it’s bundling of IE with Windows and destruction of Netscape. Websites need to be like parking lots, and you shouldn’t have to own a certain car to park in them.