Your Location on the Technology Wave

During my career I've seen the PC's star rise while the mainframe's star dipped toward the horizon. I've seen GUI programs replace character-based programs. And I've seen the Web ascend while Windows declines. I can only assume that by the time you read this some new technology will be in ascendance, and Web programming as I know it today (2004) will be on its way out. These technology cycles, or waves, imply different programming practices depending on where you find yourself on the wave.

In mature technology environments—the end of the wave, such as Web programming in the mid-2000s—we benefit from a rich software development infrastructure. Late-wave environments provide numerous programming language choices, ...

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