This blog post discusses the top challenges faced by web developers in 2021 based on a quarterly survey. The findings reveal that the top pain points remain consistent with previous years, including browser compatibility, testing, documentation, debugging, framework usage, and security/privacy concerns. The survey data highlights the difficulties developers face in keeping up with evolving web standards and the ever-expanding ecosystem of tools and frameworks. Cross-browser compatibility and testing remain significant hurdles. While initiatives like Compat 2021 aim to address these challenges, their impact is yet to be fully realized. The data consistently shows the need for improved developer tooling and a more streamlined web development experience.
This post discusses the importance of developer satisfaction, particularly for web developers, and how the MDN Web Developer Needs Assessment has influenced Chrome's web platform priorities for 2020. My hypothesis is that improving the web platform will lead to increased developer satisfaction, more content creation, and happier end-users. Based on the MDN survey data, key areas for improvement include browser compatibility, testing, documentation, debugging, framework integration, and privacy & security. Chrome is committed to working with the web ecosystem to address these challenges and increase developer productivity and satisfaction. We'll share more specific plans in the coming weeks and welcome your feedback on these focus areas and how Chrome can better engage with the developer community.
I'm looking for a Developer Advocate to join the Chrome team and help us improve web privacy. We have many ongoing and upcoming projects within the Privacy Sandbox initiative. This role will focus on advocating for cross-browser privacy solutions, working with external developers, and ensuring our internal teams prioritize user and developer needs. This will involve explaining potentially disruptive changes (like the SameSite cookie attribute update) and helping developers adapt.
The implementation of GDPR consent across the industry is flawed and confusing. Many consent mechanisms offer choices that seem meaningless, as users often can't discern the actual impact of their selection. For example, the difference between accepting all cookies and using only necessary cookies is often unclear, both in terms of functionality and verifiability.
I recently noticed Twitter has adopted the Well-Known URL for Changing Passwords, which is a simple yet effective way to improve user experience. This spec allows browsers to offer a UI for quick password resets without navigating complex site structures, simply by checking a well-known URL. This sparked an idea: could we expand this concept to other common user actions? Imagine well-known locations for managing GDPR consent, browser permissions, account details, or mailing list subscriptions. It's a powerful concept that could simplify many online interactions, and I've even raised an issue with Chrome to explore implementation.
I recently had the pleasure of attending and thoroughly enjoying a live stream hosted by This Dot, featuring browser representatives from Brave, Beaker, Edge, Chrome, and Mozilla. They discussed recent updates and the future direction of browsers. Key highlights included Beaker Browser's innovative work on the distributed web, Edge's significant updates like Service Worker support and WebP integration, Mozilla's focus on Web Assembly, and Brave's progress with BAT. My team at Google is focused on Discovery, Speed & Reliability, UI Responsiveness, UX, Security, and Privacy. We're working to improve how developers build sites for headless services, optimizing for speed and reliability using metrics like TTI and FID, improving UI responsiveness with techniques like FLIP and Houdini, prioritizing user experience, and addressing security and privacy concerns in light of Intelligent Tracking Prevention and GDPR. It was also exciting to see a shared interest in bringing back Web Intents.
Feature Policy is a new web platform API designed to help developers maintain control over their web app's performance, security, and user experience. It allows developers to define policies that restrict access to certain features or modify the browser's default behavior. Examples include controlling autoplay, access to sensitive APIs, usage of fullscreen, preventing use of outdated APIs, and managing image sizes. Policies act as a contract between the developer and the browser, ensuring the developer's intent is followed even as the project grows and evolves. While adoption is a concern, its potential benefits for performance, security and privacy are substantial, especially if tied to incentives like app store listings.
Concerned about Facebook privacy? I've created a Facebook application called "Know Your Privacy" to help you understand how third-party apps access your profile data. It highlights potential risks and offers common-sense advice. Find it at http://apps.facebook.com/knowyourprivacy/. Your feedback is welcome! Disclaimer: This app is for informational purposes only and doesn't imply any misuse of data by installed apps. It's not professional advice; contact authorities for accurate information. Resources on identity theft are included.
My site, DeliTag, is being flagged as suspicious by IE7, likely due to the username and password fields for Delicious. I've created a privacy statement to address concerns about how this information is used. In short, the credentials are passed directly to Delicious without any further processing. The transmission is unsecured, mirroring Delicious's own security. The privacy statement at http://www.kinlan.co.uk/Deli/DeliPrivacy.htm offers more details. Please contact me with any questions.
