Wanted: CSS Software Developer?
This is intriguing. For those who are deep into CSS for the web — check out this article in reference to CSS in software development.
I think this would open up a whole new world of possibilities with interface design, especially when merging software with the web. Apple seems to do this well, and has in the past. Their web interfaces for .MAC is very similar to what the user sees on their computers. It’s a seamless integration. This eliminates confusion on the users end, and eliminates doing twice the work (in some instances) for the developer.
I think with all of the talk of LIVE services (Microsoft office comes to mind), Google, and even Yahoo this could really come into play in a powerful way.
5 Comments Add your comment
Nathan Smith December 12th, 2005
I'm intrigued by this notion, after reading Mike's entry about Firefox extension developers only needing CSS / JavaScript. Who knows, maybe our knowledge of CSS will one day translate to the desktop environment. We're seeing it already with Mac widgets such as Colourmod - Stephen's a web designer by trade, but does one heck of a widget.
Nate Klaiber December 12th, 2005
Nathan: Thanks for that link, I hadn't heard of that widget before now. Just got it and played with it for a bit. I think this will come in handy for me, as I usually use the color picker in Photoshop to get any other values.
I hope that CSS will one day move to the desktop environment, it would just give me some more ideas to integrate in a seamless manner. Well, I would design it - just not sure if I would program it all, ha.
PHP/CSS to build desktop apps - I need to read up on that!
Nathan Smith December 13th, 2005
Nate: Technically, that's possible, as PHP is not necessarily web-centric, though it certainly is used in many online venues. I'm thinking of the way that OpenOffice runs some of its components on Java. Also, Macromedia Fireworks uses a good bit of JavaScript. I think we'll see an increasing overlap and eventual merging of web + desktop programming skills in our lifetime.
Chris Hattery April 28th, 2006
I saw a website that had css animations. It was slick. It looked like flash. Also, I've seen some nice color sites. You pick a color, and it gives you 5 colors that would look good with the color you chose. Kinda like the blender in Art Director Toolkit in OSX. http://colorschemer.com, http://colorblender.com, http://dark-i.com. Well, that's not really what ya'll were talking.
Nate Klaiber April 28th, 2006
@Chris:
No, those are definitely good links - and really, its about getting a consistent look / feel with web applications and desktop applications.
If CSS could control desktop apps too - that would be incredible. Talk about centralized control