Laurie Voss

Web development: where are we, and where are we going?

What if the fundamental web development skills you have today will be obsolete tomorrow? This talk explains the predictable cycle of tech evolution.

Web development: where are we, and where are we going?
#1about 8 minutes

A model for how web development technology evolves

Technology evolves through a predictable cycle of experimentation, commoditization, consolidation, and mass adoption driven by economics and developer boredom.

#2about 6 minutes

Historical examples of abstraction in web development

The history of the web from Apache and PHP to the LAMP stack and WordPress demonstrates a consistent pattern of abstracting away lower-level concerns.

#3about 5 minutes

The rise of modern frameworks and cloud platforms

Frameworks like Rails and jQuery, along with platforms like AWS and GitHub, further abstracted development and infrastructure, accelerating the cycle of change.

#4about 5 minutes

Current technologies in the competition phase

Serverless computing, Jamstack platforms like Netlify, and the React framework are currently in the intense competition and consolidation phase of the technology cycle.

#5about 5 minutes

The future is abstracting away code with components

The next evolution in web development will involve abstracting away code itself through visual, component-based editors that allow building websites without writing HTML or React.

#6about 2 minutes

Navigating your career in a component-driven future

Developers facing this future can choose to specialize in building core components, adapt to building with visual tools, or create the next generation of frameworks.

Related jobs
Jobs that call for the skills explored in this talk.

Matching moments

An overview of the 2021 web developer survey
03:01 MIN

An overview of the 2021 web developer survey

Web development best practices in 2021

Recognizing the cyclical nature of web development trends
01:20 MIN

Recognizing the cyclical nature of web development trends

The Lean Web

The industry's focus on frameworks over web fundamentals
11:32 MIN

The industry's focus on frameworks over web fundamentals

WeAreDevelopers LIVE – Frontend Inspirations, Web Standards and more

How JavaScript and its ecosystem shaped the web
03:10 MIN

How JavaScript and its ecosystem shaped the web

From Punch Cards to AI-assisted Development

The evolution of modern web development
04:34 MIN

The evolution of modern web development

Angular Unleashed: Mastering Modern Web Development with Angular

A summary of key web development trends in 2021
17:08 MIN

A summary of key web development trends in 2021

Web development best practices in 2021

The cycle of abstraction in web development
08:49 MIN

The cycle of abstraction in web development

WeAreDevelopers LIVE - Did AI or JS break the web?, Finding gems in the days of AI and One thing developers really need to know

A career journey from CMS to cloud and WebAssembly
02:49 MIN

A career journey from CMS to cloud and WebAssembly

The Future of Cloud is WebAssembly

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Jobs that call for the skills explored in this talk.