Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Why Atwood's Law is a Good Thing


Jeff Atwood proposed this simple rule way back in 2007. Now, as his predictions come true, we may find ourselves asking "why would anyone want to do such a crazy thing?" Well here are three simple reasons:

1: Because we can!
Software development is an art that requires practice. Why do college students write compilers? Why did John Carmack port Rage to iOS? Why did I port Chrono Trigger to a graphing calculator? Software engineers are artisans, these challenges represent our art form at it's best.

2: JavaScript represents true platform independence.
Windows, Mac, Linux, x86, x64, iOS, Android, the list goes on; frankly, there are just too many platforms out there to develop for. The beauty of JavaScript is that it is a universally recognized spec that is supported everywhere. This level of accessibility is advantageous for developers and consumers alike.

3: It shows the power of modern technology.
The fact that we can run a Java Virtual Machine in the browser shows just how far modern browsers and house hold hardware have come. It was only a few years ago that Virtual Machines were a concept reserved for only the most powerful of server farms. The tower of Dubia was not built out of necessity, it instead stands as a monument to human achievement; that is how I view emulator hardware in a browser, a virtual monument of human engineering.

...also, why wouldn't you want to play NES games in your browser?


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