I got a great laugh from this. I think anyone that has experienced the full life cycle of an enterprise level web app can relate to this article. The good new

I got a great laugh from this. I think anyone that has experienced the full life cycle of an enterprise level web app can relate to this article. The good news for the author is it gets better. The bad news is this takes time, a lot of time. Disclaimer: It was a long article, so I skimmed it instead of reading in its entirety, but here is some general advice none the less. Advice (from a front end guy): 1) Stick to what you know, and sprinkle in new stuff as you go. (Just get something working) * If your a backend programmer, go balls out on this part of the app. For the front end, keep the code entry level. Use tables, embedded CSS, and case specific JavaScript (for example a jQuery light box) when needed. 2) Start using jQuery or MooTools pronto (solves that pesky browser compatibility issue) * If you haven't started this yet, do so as soon as possible. Don't worry about creating an entire JS framework until you are very comfortable with jQuery or MooTools. This will save you many hours of bug fixes on code that you are going to have to rewrite anyways. * I prefer MooTools because of the way the code is structured. They have a function called Class() which gives you the ability to Extend or Implement (to a certain degree) other MooTools classes that you create. 3) CSS oh no, I feel bad for you. * CSS is a complete shit show when you are just starting out. Keep it entry level with fonts, colors, images, backgrounds, borders. If you get stuck, solve it with JS or embedded styles and fix it later when you have a better understanding of CSS. * Also, avoid padding where possible and stick to using margins. This will save you box model complications. 4) CSS floats warning, if you must * If you end up using floats, don't forget your lil buddy, the div.clear hack. This kind of works like a line break. * div.clear { clear: both; } * <div class="floatLeft">stuff</div> <div class="floatLeft">more stuff</div> <div class="clear"></div> <-- (I know it feels dirty introducing a seemingly unnecessary element to the DOM, but hey, it WORKS!!) 5) Be ready for a long UI/UX journey * It takes time to get cozy with this stuff, but when you do you will feel like a geeky rock star. It is a lot of fun when you get to the more advanced UI/UX stuff. Enjoy every little UI/UX mile stone along the way, they are fun. You will feel like you are programming at a turtle's pace, but a few months from now you will look back and think "Look at all the cool stuff I can do!" 6) Good Luck!