Online Community Building Tools Gaining Traction According to Web Developer Survey

JavaScriptSearch
Wednesday, October 25, 2006; 02:31 AM

Ektron, Inc., developer of web content management software, and SitePoint, which runs sitepoint.com, provider of content and resources for web professionals, announced that their survey of web professionals – one of the largest ever conducted – showed that technologies aimed at improving the client-side interface and building communities are gaining momentum among web developers.

"The State of Web Development 2006/2007" report, which analyzes the responses of 5,000 web developers to chart progress in the world of the Web, provides insight into current realities and uncover new trends within the developer community, according to the two companies. It is available now at http://www.sitepoint.com/launch/ektron/3/68/.

The survey consisted of 15 questions, including queries about web developers’ current and intended use of specific web technologies, ranging from established technologies, such as Flash, to emerging technologies, such as AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) and microformats. AJAX was by far the biggest gainer with 46 percent of web developers planning to adopt the technology in the next 12 month. Respondents also showed an interest in using more community-oriented tools: 38 percent of developers intend to use blogs in their development projects, 25 percent aim to use podcasting, 20 percent mean to use wikis. Syndication will also jump by 36 percent, according to the authors.