My closing talk for this year's Fronteers conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands about just how cool it is to be someone who builds things for the web.

1. Reasons to be cheerful
Chris&an Heilmann
Fronteers, Amsterdam, October 2010

2. Dammit, I’m mad!
is
Dammit, I’m mad!
spelled
backwards.

3. Being someone who
builds for the web is
awesome!

5. Sure, we got things
to complain about.

6. And we harp on and
on about them.

7. http://mrdoob.com/lab/javascript/effects/ie6/

8. But if we really look
at it a lot of our
grief is home-made.

9. The web is an
amazing platform to
work for.

10. We can work cross-
platform without
building different
binaries!

11. The technologies to
build stuff with are
pretty easy to learn.

12. And massively
documented!

13. And massively
documented!
http://dev.opera.com/articles/wsc/

14. http://interact.webstandards.org/

15. http://diveintohtml5.org/

16. http://developer.mozilla.org

17. http://yuiblog.com/crockford/

18. http://developer-evangelism.com

19. Seriously, if you
spend a few hours
online you can learn
the lot!

20. And you have up-to-
date knowledge
instead of a
certificate.

21. Back when I started
this was different.

22. The main source of
knowledge was
view-source.

23. This is not needed
any more!

24. The main skill over
the years was to
know how browsers
failed and how to
work around that.

25. You can still work
that way, but
actually not even
this is needed any
longer.

26. Libraries fix
browsers!

27. CSS libraries help
you create
predictable layouts.

28. Detection libraries
allow you to build
with progressive
enhancement.

29. The whole market is
shifting.

30. Browser vendors
listen to standards
bodies and
grassroots
movements.

31. Our standards bodies
can be influenced

32. Try to find another
market where that
is possible...

33. Which leads me to
working
environments.

34. We have good work
environments.

35. This is partly
because of outside
help.

36. Mainstream media
recognises us.

37. The Internet is part
of daily life.

38. For years we’ve
suffered from not
having a real place
in HR policies and in
job hierarchies.

39. It is time not to care
what people call us

40. ➡ Screen Designer
➡ Web Designer
➡ HTML Programmer
➡ HTML Monkey
➡ Web Developer
➡ Lead Web Developer
➡ Head of Web Development
➡ Web Developer
➡ Interaction Architect
➡ Front End Architect
➡ Lead Developer Evangelist
(International)

41. I build stuff for
=
the internet!

42. Companies have no
clue what web
development is.

43. No need to fight
internal red tape.

44. If you don’t like
your job - leave it.

45. If you want to talk
about your job
situation and your
boss doesn’t have
time for you...

46. Wear a suit for the
day and leave on
time for a change.

47. You will soon get an
email invite or call
or visit from your
boss after that.

48. As “web developers”
we need to get our
kicks in other ways
than through our
companies.

49. Here’s three of them.

50. Way #1: Improving
the things we care
about on the sly.

51. Don’t waste your
time fighting
pointless battles.

52. It something looks
it, people think it is
the real thing.

53. “Can we use the
company font on
our site?”

54. Sure!
body{
“company font”,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;
}

55. Use newest
technologies and
extras without
asking for support
of them.

56. Add them with
progressive
enhancement and
nobody needs to
know.

57. When they hit the
mainstream and
your boss asks
about them, show
them you already
thought of that!

58. I am very sure that
most of innovation
on the web is put in
without requests
from above.

59. You can show them
to others and make
them appear
magically as a viral!

60. Way #2: Innovating
from the outside in.

61. If you can’t shine in
your company, shine
outside of it!

62. Our communication
channels are easy
and our community
is big.

63. Barcamps, *camps,
meetups,
opencoffee...

64. All this stuff is free
and a chance to
network and get
known.

65. Having own ideas
and tastes is
welcome!

67. http://procssor.com/

68. There can be
misunderstandings.

69. !important

70. http://www.alistapart.com/articles/
javascriptreplacement/

72. The rest is history!

73. Different
perspectives are
welcome

74. Releasing and
allowing people to
change things is
awesome.

75. Creative Commons
and Open Source
are your ticket to
fame!

76. Sharing is common
in our market.

77. Take cool stuff and
build on it!

78. You could
be the
one to
add the
piece to
make it
tasty!

79. http://icant.co.uk/articles/seven-rules-of-
unobtrusive-javascript/
http://www.zhuoqun.net/html/y2008/1103.html

80. You want to write
cool stuff - not fix it
for all edge cases.

81. What you can’t fix,
someone else will.

82. Things you don’t
want to add - other
people can.

83. Code is not a fixed
physical state.

84. And this is why my
message with my
code is...

85. If you
don’t like
my code,
fork off!

86. GitHub, Google
Code and all the
other source
repositories is
where your code
should live.

87. In live products is
where it functions
and delivers.

88. Way #3: Go improve
the stuff that brings
us a benefit in the
future!

89. Motivation is not a
problem!

90. https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/
Motivation is not a
problem!

91. https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/
Motivation is not a
problem!

92. https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/

93. Accessibility is a hot
topic - think silver
surfers and touch
interfaces.

94. Easy YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwsDKaalgq8&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiuT0y0KR6I

95. “ You can leave now - I don’t
need you any longer to watch
my videos!
“

96. Security is getting
more and more
important for web
developers.

97. CSRF vs.
simple
update
buttons

98. Evercookie
is a wake-
up call.
http://samy.pl/evercookie/

99. HTML5 and CSS3 are
open to feedback
and need our testing
and reporting.

100. Build cool, rich
interfaces with
HTML5 - outside of
walled of
environments or in
Flash.

101. Be part of breaking
old and outdated
conventions.

102. http://express.davglass.com/

103. http://www.yuiblog.com/blog/2010/09/29/video-glass-node/

104. node.js + YUI3 =
Progressive
Enhancement win!

105. NoSQL
environments
instead of
bottleneck DB
servers.

106. Local Storage

108. GeoLocation, Web
Workers, Web
Sockets, SVG and
inline SVG...

109. But... but... but... I
am only a designer!

110. “ I am not qualified to make a
decision on that. The onus is
on you to educate me deeply
about this thing that I am not
even interested in (...) nobody
can win that argument!
“
Douglas Crockford, Loopage

111. Yes, there are
unknown
dangers to be
aware of.

112. But together we can
tackle them and
clean this mess up!

113. Let’s get down
to business.

114. Release your stuff
to the web!

115. Build with the web!

116. Get stuff from the
web to build your
stuff with!

117. Spread the
news about
cool stuff as
far as you can!

118. Understand that you
don’t need to
convince everybody.

119. Don’t be a loner.

120. Say thanks and give
feedback

121. Understand that we
are on the move!

122. Don’t stick with
your pet technology
from the past.

123. It gets easier and
easier for every new
generation.

124. “ (It seems) we have to wait
for a generation to die off
before we get critical mass
on the next good idea...
“
Douglas Crockford, Loopage

125. Don’t make the next
generation guess
what we did.

126. Show the way with
simple pointers.

127. It is up to us to let
stupid habits die
out and embrace
the future.

128. Concentrate on
handovers - not on
being the delivery
guy.

129. Show
pride in
your
work!

130. With the right
passion and interest
you can be anything
you want in our
market.

132. Push
yourself
to join
the fun!

133. Playing
dead will
get you
nowhere.

134. Christian Heilmann
http://wait-till-i.com Thanks!
http://developer-evangelism.com
http://twitter.com/codepo8