What does Web development the smart way mean?

Very simply, Web development the smart way means to develop proper solutions using the Web that will also advance the Web development community.

To accomplish this we must first break the process down into two phases. The first phase is developing proper solutions using the Web. This consists of efficiently executing all the major aspects involved in software development (analyze, design, develop, test, maintain) to create a solution that should work the way it is intended to. And of course this is done using Web technologies (Web browser, JavaScript, HTML, AJAX, etc…).

The second phase of advancing the Web development community involves using and building upon the Web’s best parts when creating Web Applications and Websites. Determining the Web’s best parts is a tensely debated subject that has yet to be resolved; hence the lack of a clear set of standards. But one major part of Web development is JavaScript. In my post on Lessons Learned at the Rich Web Experience 2008, I give a brief synopsis on ways to bring out JavaScript’s best.

So, to develop proper solutions using the Web that will also advance the Web development community, we must be disciplined in our software development methodologies while ensuring we are using the best parts of whatever Web technology we choose to use.