The Client-Side Conundrum
By Ray Valdés
The ratio of attention that developers devote to browsers and client-side technologies has shifted over the years. In the early days the browser got more attention when crafting the end-user experience, because most sites had simple server-side configurations. A couple of years ago, the focus shifted to server-side technologies like application servers and dynamic publishing systems.
One of the largest battles in the browser wars was between Java applets and ActiveX. This conflict got a lot of press even though the number of sites that actually used ActiveX controls was very small (probably one fiftieth of the number of sites that incorporated Java applets).
No need to get into the details of such dead-end experiments. But it's worth noting that, although the hidden agenda was world dominance, there was also a more valid rationale: better control of the presentation and formatting of content to enhance the impact of HTML pages. Of the many vendor-specific browser extensions that were introduced in the late '90s, some proved genuinely useful like tables, frames, and JavaScript. Over time, the tags that developers used most were adopted into the mainstream Web platform.
My intent is not to pay homage to old events but to point out a deep-seated dynamic that still exists. There's an ongoing conflict, not between two browser vendors, but between two camps in the Web developer community that I'll call the progressives and the fundamentalists. The progressives, easily captivated by the latest technological trinkets, are early adopters of technologies regardless of whether they represent genuine advances.
