Posted on August 4th, 2010Inexperienced web developers are often plagued by frustration after completing and barely surviving a web development project. They are often unaware about the challenges often faced by all web developers.
Here are the nine common obstacles confronted by web developers
- Confusing Requirements – It is a common thing. A client wants you to create the most glamorous site in the world, but unable to describe the specifics. They use vague words like extraordinary and colossal but can’t even define how the drop down menus should look.
- Changing Requirements – Of course, we change our mind sometimes. But too many changes can be harmful. Does your current requirement still resemble the original? It can be one of the harshest experiences in your career.
- Designers don’t want to know what goes into coding – Many do not realize that developers and designers are different. Designers work with colors and web elements placement. They offer spontaneity and creativity. But some designers completely oblivious to the complexity of coding process and keep on repeating those ominous words: “Complete this!”. Anything can look marvelous in a PSD, but it is quite different to make it into a reality.
- Struggle to make your CSS work – CSS scripts are wonderful to uniformly styling all pages in your website. Some badly implemented CSS codes can have a notoriously wacky behavior, especially if it was originally written by someone else.
- Pride in your work quashed by customers – You gleefully come to a meeting session with all the eagerness and thrill over the work you’ve toiled over the last one month. Your excitement is dashed when your clients spend almost the entire meeting criticizing your beautiful work.
- Impractical Timelines - Similar to obstacle number three. But now it is, “Complete this, in a week!” Yeah. Right. Of course timelines are helpful. They help people set defined goals. They help us make sensible decisions. But unrealistic timelines may put unfair burden and stress on people. Plus the end results will usually look ugly.
- Bad Superiors – Ever have an employer that is so lax that he failed to make a deadline. Or the boss may refuse to allow even the slightest innovation and micromanage everything in the office, making you want to quit immediately.
- Competing visions – Two dominant persons. Two competing visions. That won’t be fun. It is amusing how people may seem to agree initially to something but compete ferociously during the development process.
- Bad development tools – Ever spend the whole day finding an elusive bug. Sometimes you’re not the actual problem. It’s the tools you’re using. Gather the right tools to assist you accomplish your tasks efficiently and effectively.