JamesWong.id.au

What has been happening over the past decade with technology, and in particular, software development has been quite exciting.  Most of it has happened as it usually does, without people realising it.  It’s creeped into people’s lives and now we see it everywhere!  I am talking about web applications.  Honestly, the number of people who use webmail is quite simply staggering.  Have a look at these recent statistics on the number of webmail users:

Microsoft webmail properties: 256.2 million users
Yahoo: 254.6 million users
Google: 91.6 million users
AOL webmail properties: 48.9 million users

Even given that a proportion of these users would be the result of people signing up multiple accounts, this is still quite staggering.  Why is this exciting from the viewpoint of software development?  Here are some reasons:

1. No installation required. Your application runs in a web browser.  Those are the requirements of your software.  You the web applications developer can take care of all the server-side processing and the configuration.  Your users just needs to run their browser and specify the URL.
2. Fixes can be pushed out instantly. When there are errors in the software, regardless of how major or minor, you do not require your users to reinstall the software.  You make the fix and that’s it: all your users have the fix.
3. Availability. Your application is not limited to just a desktop computer or a laptop.  It’s available on any device with a web browser – this includes smart phones like the iPhone, Blackberry, HTC, etc.  The caveat with smart phones is that you’ll have to cater for the smaller screens.

I’m sure there are many more reasons, but those are enough reasons for the moment.  Hopefully you can see how exciting this is.  I’ve always known about these reasons, but it’s not until I recently started making simple AJAX powered websites that I see how much potential there is.  Now here’s the challenge:  I’d like to see more web applications used in ministry.  I reckon you do lots of stuff with a laptop serving as a local webserver, and a wireless router to connect whatever devices you want.  I’ve already got a few ideas of my own and I’ll be looking to implement these sometime soon.  You can gain a high level of productivity just by making simple web applications: the main problem is that it’s not being done at the moment.  If you’ve got any ideas on things you’d like to collaborate, please feel free to contact me on Twitter.