Happy Birthday, WebObjects

Thanks to David LeBer for letting me know today WebObjects is ten years old. The Mac Observer has a nice write-up about it.

I started writing web apps in Perl way back when. I had developed a set of reusable libraries and grew rather proficient at writing and extending apps. I was feeling rather sharp. (What is it about web development that makes you cocky?) I could do anything I wanted, and fast.

Then Chris Hanson introduced me to WebObjects. My jaw dropped. I had given some thought about designing a next-gen web app framework. WO was about 2000 miles ahead of me. Learning WebObjects was about three months of me slapping my head and saying “of course!”

All the time I spent thinking what an ace web programmer I was, I realized I was taking pride in polishing gears. WebObjects gave me a Porsche. We’re talking an entirely different level. I learned I wasn’t working fast, I was simply working hard. With WO, I’d focus on the app, not the tech underneath.

People email me if they should still learn WebObjects. It depends. Once you know WO, you may feel shackled by everything else. The web app world is decidedly not WebObjects. You need to weigh the pleasure of knowing the Better Way versus the pain of Not Being Able To Use It.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006
12:00 AM