.NET Brain Droppings

It really isn't that bad with .NET and IE having 95% of the market :-).

I think it depends upon the type of application. If the requirements is just to 'display' information then I guess a browser app (be it with ASP.NET) may be apropos. If the requirements call for data entry or similar high interactivity, it's better to stick with WinForms apps.
Cross-browser compatibility is euphism for ignorance - one can have more than one browser installed on a machine if need be. In most cases almost all browsers have the same rendering capability (at least for most commercial apps).

I try to use standards such as _validated_ html / xhtml. This way I know, when something does not render well, that it's the client's fault, not in my code.
It's also a nice neutral way, pleasing Mozilla's and IE's.
Luckily I don't have to do web development at the moment.

I have to say, that even though I've been pretty much exclusively a web developer for the past 13 years (I started when tables were novel :-)), I agree with what you say.
Web development is tricky, and this is largely due to a few factors - non-preservation of state being the worst (ASP.NET tries to alleviate this problem with ViewState but only partially succeeds).
Oh, as for all browsers having the same rendering capability...umm...yes...this is just not true and never has been - they 'theoretically' have the same capabilities but in acutuality they differ just enough to cause pain (now that Netscape 4.x is dying out it is getting easier...).
I do long for the 'stateful web' as is promised by technologies such as Laszlo and the new flash stuff...but you still have to buy an app to do it - HTML will be with us as long as this is the case.

Ok, maybe it does suck, but it's just so much fun!

:) Marcie

Good, I'm not the only one. Web development is so mundane. Most of the non-UI code is just copying data from one structure to another. I was writing more complex code in high school and college. And generating HTML? Oh, that's exciting.

I prefer algorithmic coding where I actually have to think for a while to figure out how to do something. There is so little of that, though, in IT that I have settled on writing rich clients. I like the many challenges that they provide.

Spot on! I was never comfortable with the idea of thin clients, and web app development. Building for the lowest-common-denominator forces you to strip away all useful functionality. It seems like a throw-back to the dumb terminal days of the 70's (I guess I date myself).

Through the entire growth of the Web, I've gone out of my way to stay with rich-client development. It looks like the Visual Studio tool for Office 2003 will keep me busy for a long time to come.

Thin clients (ASP.NET included) suck. Apart from the fact that how nice .NET is, but the idea of having thin clients was good for the old times. Wasting all of your time to do DHTML tricks, large number of roundtrips and lack of flexibility and usability prevents web-based apps to be usable apps. I have seen many of our clients putting heavy ActiveX controls on their web pages, just because their boss told them it should be a web-based solution!!!

We delivered a session in VBUG UK 2003 and mentioned that thin clients are good for checking email in an Internet cafe or viewing stock quotes (but nothing more than that)

Long live Smart Clients :)

I love Jesse Ezelle's comment about .net and IE having 95% of the market. Even in 2003 this was highly inaccurate. .NET is a piece of sh*#e and has been far surpassed by PHP & mySQL. But really, let's get to the point here. If you are a great developer then you already know that this is one of the most chaotic jobs EVER. Everything changes constantly, languages are invented and phased out at the same time.. Syntax constantly changes, browsers constantly change, and let's not forget the all popular Google, constantly adding more to it's algorithm. Basically what I'm saying is DO NOT become a developer. The pay is great, but the stress is immense. I'm on my 10th year, and it's only gotten harder.

Okay, first of all everything works fine for me as long as I have control over the code completely, but thanks to colleges not being able to teach web development I have a 4.0 GPA and am on my last year of getting my bachelor's and I still struggle with other people's code. When I started out in IT, I started in networking and I should have stayed there. Now, I am stuck with one worthless associate degree and am finishing up a worthless bachelor's. I decided to pursue certs in networking just to get a job. I have my own startup company, linked above, but I hate web development. Just when I get things done right damn IE screws it up. I stick with doing designs for the most part and outsource server-side code to the ones that can do it well. The problem I have with it is that no one seems to know how to teach what I need to do. I am as one might guess, so pissed. All I wanted was a job, and now I struggle just to get a contract. I am going back into networking, and screw web development. Sure, I will finish up my degree, but colleges have me so in debt and have taught me nothing and landing a full-time job is impossible. ASP.NET, PHP, classic ASP are all great fun till you run up against something a pro has done. Feel like jumping off a friggin' bridge sometimes.

I wouldn't recommend anyone start a career in web development.  I am a software engineer really, but started web developement in the last 3 years with ASP.NET.  My advice: 'Don't do it!'. You will cause yourself much stress and pain.