Define Web Development...View From A Layman
How Development Makes You Feel Dumb
I think I’ve had the concept of web development explained to me about a dozen times and I’m really starting to feel quite intellectually deficient. I’ve managed to wrap my mind around the basic concept of it all, but…well…my word!!
What more can I say?
I’ve asked developers, I’ve asked the people who hire the developer’s, I’ve even Googled the term and looked it up on Wikipedia. Do you want to know what all this desperate querying has told me? Sweet bugger all!
Sure I’ve scrounged up a vague, ill-defined half-answer here and there, but nothing solid, nothing I can really sink my teeth into or wrap my mind around.
The Myth That Is Website Development
In no way am I saying that the people I’ve asked haven’t a clue what they’re doing or even what they’re talking about. These were pro’s I approached, experts in the development field. Sadly though, the expertise of the interviewee doesn’t change the illusory nature of the subject.
The fact remains that a clear definition of web development is possibly the greatest mystery known to man. A more elusive quarry than has ever been sought before.
I mean, even Nessie has been caught on film!
The worst of it all is the pitiable look you’re awarded with when someone trying to explain web development can clearly see the blank look of incomprehension on the face of you, his victim. They smile sadly, their eyes brimming with sympathy as they draw in a deep breath, pausing for thought, ready to explain it all in another way.
And every explanation seems to conflict with the last one, all of them fighting inside your mind for dominance, the winner becoming the meaning attached to the term, a meaning that will, despite all attempts to the contrary, be incomplete.
I’ve decided, after my quest, that there is in fact no definition for web development, the field has no predefined boundaries. Web developers know what they’re doing, the rest of us have no idea. I warn you now, be happy with that answer because the search for any other answer will just lead you down a long dark path that may drag you in, never to release you. Let them do their job…. and just be happy that they CAN do it so well.
