The future of web development

P.S. (Prescript): Its been a long time since I've posted. For those who thought I was gone for good, I'm sorry to disappoint you :P. While the last 2 posts were fun its now time to move to towards a different direction now, a more serious one. I don't expect even half the 23 comments i got last time, but this is something that I just have to do. I hereby declare that I have written this post in full consciousness and the best of mental states and there is no reason for anyone to doubt otherwise. :)

The World Wide Web has come a long way from its early days of static html web pages. E-mails, chats, skype calls, facebook, twitter, blogs etc. have made the web into an extension of our social life and for many people much more than that. For an organization a presence on the web today is not merely a luxury, but a necessity. Infact entire retail stores of organizations exist completely on the web. And hence as new ventures are started one of the very first requirements is a comprehensive and sleek website, coupled with all the latest in-things and a complete Content Management System.

From a developers perspective as the focus now shifts on compliance with the W3C standards, maintainability and Search engine optimization. Building mere functionality isn't sufficient, codes have to be written in a clean and structured format. Gone are the days when entires sites were constructed squashing in PHP and HTML codes into single files. As there is growing trend of using specialized designers and specialized developers here is a greater shift towards MVC architectures. MVC (Model-View-Controller) architectures separate the Database, Data Logic and Processing and the Presentation layer hence making the integration of designs and backend coming from separate sources possible and also ensure easy reuse and maintenance of the code. While Struts is an accepted industry standard today its complexity is enough to draw away most developers. Instead more developers are preferring Ruby on Rails, Django, CakePHP, TurboGrears, Symphony overs Java based frameworks as these are much simpler to use. An added advantage in frameworks like Django and Ruby on Rails is the automatic CRUD (Create read update delete) part which can be used to make CMS interfaces much more easily. While the support for these technologies isn't great yet, they are the ones that the future web will run on. As a matter of fact majority of the existing websites are made in a technology that is light years behind what exists today.

Another development are CMS systems like Joomla, Wordpress, Drupal, ZenCart etc. that provide a quick and easy way to set up complex sites by using the army of standard built in features that they provide. However the more standard built in features the lesser the scope for customization, and in today's million-website-web it isn't the standard website that stands out. Websites need to be special to make an impact. And so while Joomla may work brilliantly for one website, Wordpress may work perfectly for a blog, they don't offer a comprehensive or permanent solution yet. Quick and easy, yes, but at a price called compromise, and compromise isn't a word that an organization that lives on its website is ready to hear.

So as we move towards a bigger Web its hard to imagine a Joomla that will offer total control (no doubt Joomla will continue to progress, but so will the web :-) ). It will nevertheless provide a quick and easy fix for the ones who don't care about pixel perfection. But for the purists the future lies in Django, Ruby on Rails and their tribe. There is still a huge scope for further development and additions in them before they could be called perfect. Inline PHP on the other hand should finally be laid to rest. jQuery, Mootools and newer javascript libraries will continue to dominate on the client side, and Ajax should soon gain a foothold and get incorporated into the MVC architectures. MVC's are here to stay. Watch out!!

Skiting, Farewelling and the Listing

As the music dies, something in your eyes
calls to mind the silver screen
and all its sad good-byes

Scene 1: I have 20 rupees in my wallet. Feeling really thirsty after a boring nuke class (which all CS guys bunked without telling me :X). Thank you Pulkit for the frooti.
P.S: Pulkit's a nice guy :)

Been a long time since my first (which some believed to be the last) post. Well the way things work is this: when there was this extended weekend and I was totally vella, couldn't think of a thing to post on. Now with days remaining for endsems and free time available at a premium I'm getting all sorts of things to write on.

Scene 2: Half an hour later.. We guys are at the fruit chat stalls shamelessly biting out from a juniors (Patiyala.. deliberately misspelled) wallet. And other one (Chanti) drops in thinking its a chapo from our side. He isnt spared either.
P.S: Dear first junior, from next time have better sense not to give a chapo 4 days before your birthday :P (as if we'll spare you later). And dear Chanti, everything that glitters is not gold.

Words fall short in describing IMG farewell. In one word it was Legen.. wait for.. dary (did I just say that words fall short?). The preparations, though tiring, were real fun. For a couple of days IMG lab was filled with charts, scissors, sketch pens and stuff. These were the days when the group really came together (minus the 4th yearites who were suspended from the lab :P). As for my role well I was the director :).

Scene 3: Later that night. I still had those 20 rupees in my wallet. Me, Paulie, Tanvi and Dassi are heading to Sagar. Paulie pushes me to the ATM, I insert my card and fortunately for me the machine isnt working. So the first two pay for my dinner and icecream.
P.S: Paulie, next time check if I am inserting the card correctly :P, as for Dassi, I'll catch you later.

Directing a skit?? OMG how am I supposed to do that? This certainly isnt my glass of milk. After breaking my head for 2 nights I came up with something that could be called decent. Thanks to Sampi, Pulkit and Bhardu for chipping in (but dears, then you started messing with my room again :x.. for heaven's sake everyday is not a Bhawan Day).

Scene 4: Next day.. I still have those 20 rupees in my wallet. Anshul to the rescue this time :).
P.S: Thanks. I owe you one :)

Not to mention about Bhardu's 'brilli-aunt' idea about the interview part in the skit. Thankfully we managed to get it canceled :).

Scene 5: Din't have dinner that night. This time it is 9.5833 @Govind canteen. (I still had those 20 rupees ).
P.S: I love you. (pun intended)

Its farewell night. A grand welcome is followed by a senti speech by our very own Bhasin sir. A projector in the background continuously beams the memories from the past, awesome idea, I must add. Then its time for the skit which (surprisingly) did manage to evoke some laughs (Chote P :P). Time to cut the cake.. (Happy Birthday Chugh sir).

Scene 6: Next evening. I am at nesci with Rupsy (she owed me a chapo). I am busy staring at the zigndog team present there. Meanwhile a burger is followed by an icetea (no mercy). I keep staring at the zigndog team :).
P.S: Do I have to write this out each time?

The cake is followed by a game of mafia for the fourth yearites (dear skywalker, this game shall never be forgotten). The game proved to be even more fun from a spectators perspective.

Scene 7: Me, 9.5833 and AD are heading to PD after our guitar class. AD (who visits CCD every alternate day) took a lot of persuasion and agreed only after 9.5833 decided to make it from a ttmm to his chapo. I happen to be the silent beneficiary.
P.S: nothing's as delicious as well made tandoori chicken :)

As the night sets in other cake comes up. And then its time for coffee with PanGay and Chul chul. Perhaps this was the most captivating part of the night. Some one hour later after the giftings and secret extracting (and it was an awesome session mind you) its finally dinner and DJ time. Brilliant night. That hall at Divine will never see such awesomeness again.

Scene 8: I still have those 20 rupees. Next day I am finally heading for the ATM just when I spot Tanvi, Harris and R.. oops Deeksha at the fruit stalls. Says me, "Hi, khila rahi he kuch?". Reply "Kya khaoge?" (arrey resist toh kara hota).
P.S: God save you from your juniors :P. (Plus dont give chapos days before your birthday, you wont be spared.. you gave two) Ab how am I to blame jab log itne seedhe ho?

Time for the timeless 'bakar in front of main building session'. And it did live up to its hype. I was deeply affected by the sayings of our seniors. Then its time for Ravindra canteen, Maddu sir ka account he toh kya tension he :).

Scene 9: half an hour later. @CL for gol guppe.. love them. Nikhil is the man this time around.
P.S: Of all the ones in the list you showed the best resistance (but it was futile in the end :)).. And an advice: DO NOT pay for others just days before your birthday, you wont be spared.

Finally we are at lab with each one of us revisiting our time in the group. Enlightening session. The epic farewell is finally drawing to a close. Or maybe its time for one last dash to bustea before the curtain call.

Scene 10: I am finally parting with my 20 rupees at the canteen. Just then AD pops out of nowhere with the golden words "Abe Kaali ka birthday he, uski chapo he". I take back my 20 rupees hardly believing my luck.
P.S: I am speechless.

Fare well dear seniors.

'Cause I see the storm getting closer
And the waves they get so high
Seems everything We've ever known's here
Why must it drift away and die

The day after the farewell I am sitting in the class still lost in the memories and hardly bothering to listen to the prof. And the summer heat starts to make its presence felt. After the exhausting session I turn to the person sitting beside me "Yaar Pulkit, pyaas lag rahi he"... Fast forward to Scene 1.

P.S. The list remains wide open and I still have those 20 rupees. POST CONCLUDED :)

It Happened One Night

Lazing around on a piece of mattress in my hometown for a week I searched and searched for a topic for my opening post, but there was none to strike (did i just write the word hometown?? well, this will come up sometime later). Now in midst of the busiest time of my life (not to mention the busiest birthday I've ever had) here I am typing this thingy up. The past week has been an eventful one, from one B-day to another. I'll mainly be writing about the first one which would be 17th, tuesday that is.

The 'Passing': Bhawan days are a festive occasion for all sections out here on the campus and it becomes an onus on the hosts to arrange for the passes. This job mainly involves plenty of sweet and persuasive 'bakar' and some 'poly' (people also resort to blackmailing like charging 15 passes for a dance performance :P). So after all this of which I made a 'good' contribution we managed to get hold of our best ever collection of passes.

The 'Preparing': Bhawan days also offer a chance for people with mob mentality to rip apart rooms of the poor hosts. Hence it is a must to take some necessary precautions. So I made sure that anything that was liquid, gel, semi solid, or fine solid was safely locked up inside a trunk along with the best clothes I possessed. Sketch pens and markers too 'disappeared' mysteriously.

The 'Happening': 9.5833 did a great job compering and Peter England was brilliant with the dance as usual (Sorry, I missed the entire thing). By the way, I thought I had everything 'resolved'. Well a fan with its blades folded, a floor littered with dustbin crap, a wet pillow and bedding, a destroyed computer mouse, and two dozed clothes stamped upon by two dozen people dont seem to share my opinion.

The 'Shifting': After the destruction I was left without a set of neat clothes to change into, not to mention the room was uninhabitable. Thankfully 9.5833 decided to take me in (actually sorry for butting in :), tolerate me till monday by which i promise to clean the mess up). Also the key to that trunk lies somewhere on that floor littered with stuff. I have been unable to locate it as of now (perhaps I'll just break through). Apart from being roomless and 'clothless' (to be interpreted in a decent manner, after all a CHELSEA jersey and a jean is all I have been left with), the next few days also left me sleepless and foodless. Those are the pains of organizing a centerstage event at Cognizance.

@Bahaubali: Thanks for providing the passes for 'those guys'. (Sorry that 'those guys' broke your dustbin).
@Those guys: You'll pay for all this.
@HHH: Love you.
@9.5833: I Love you too. :)

P.S: A Torn tablecloth.. Rs 50, A broken dustbin.. Rs 100, A mouse destroyed Rs 175.. A straightened hairband and some torn ducks.. priceless.. There are some things that money cant buy, for everything else there is IMG.

P.P.S: Blue is the colour, football is the game. We're all together and winning is our aim. So cheer us on through the sun and rain. Cos Chelsea, Chelsea is our name.

And finally..
Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday to dear me,
Happy birthday to me.

-- Anyone going to Delhi in the near future, please contact