As development tasks that were once complex become more simplistic and accessible, there arises new technologies and practices that advance the ever growing technology market. While this is beneficial in the end, the challenge hits developers to learn and implement these new technologies into already established systems.
For developers just starting out, their mind is a fresh canvas able to take in new information without unlearning old habits. However, for old school developers it will prove difficult to move on; habits, experiences and time will get in the way of progress.
The standard is no longer standard
Things that used to be standard in 2005 are now obsolete; best practices are now old technology and they have been replaced with better, smarter ways of accomplishing the same task.
CSS Preproccesor
Preprocessors are an excellent example of the internet moving forward. There is a huge disconnect between writing HTML and CSS, so much so that clever individuals created preprocessors that make it easier, increasing motivation to write your stylesheets.
JQuery, the child language of Javascript, used to be considered an afterthought. Now it’s used by an increasing number of websites to show content in an engaging way. These types of trends are vital to the growth process of the web and will only increase in value as they become more standard in modern web browsers.
Why moving forward matters
In order for the internet to evolve as a whole the people who build and maintain it must be able to learn and grow with it. The increase in speed, flexibility, interaction and functionality of modern frameworks makes it easier for people all around the world to access great content on the fly. Especially with so many people using modern mobile devices, the emphasis on mobile technology, which is still in its infancy, is playing a huge role in the future of the web.
This is why if developers don’t continue to evolve and stay in touch with modern technology they will soon be pushed to the archive where they will slowly be forgotten.