The interface design segment of our information architecture course consisted entirely of HTML.
Which, like basic db design, I already knew...I realize that if I want to really LEARN interface design, I should probably go to some kind of interface design school, and most library systems use Web-based catalog interfaces now, but...yeah.
That's one of those "don't get me started" questions.
Probably the single biggest problem with web frontends is that they're passive. There's no continuous connection between the frontend and the application, so you get things like session timeouts when you try to proceed through something instead of (say) a notice warning you that it'll time out soon. Hacks like local timeouts using Javascript or Refresh headers don't count as fixes for this, either, they count as godawful hacks piled on existing godawful hacks. The alternative appears to be "Use Java!" which, in Linux land at least, is still a byword for "throw away any notions you had of performance and lightweightness"
I could go on, but I'm doing my best to circumvent a web-based front-end at the moment.
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Which, like basic db design, I already knew...I realize that if I want to really LEARN interface design, I should probably go to some kind of interface design school, and most library systems use Web-based catalog interfaces now, but...yeah.
no subject
no subject
Probably the single biggest problem with web frontends is that they're passive. There's no continuous connection between the frontend and the application, so you get things like session timeouts when you try to proceed through something instead of (say) a notice warning you that it'll time out soon. Hacks like local timeouts using Javascript or Refresh headers don't count as fixes for this, either, they count as godawful hacks piled on existing godawful hacks. The alternative appears to be "Use Java!" which, in Linux land at least, is still a byword for "throw away any notions you had of performance and lightweightness"
I could go on, but I'm doing my best to circumvent a web-based front-end at the moment.