Moving Your Cheese
I was asked to give a talk on the un-talkable: “MVC vs. WebForms”. This talk is insta-fail for most people since no matter how you slice it – you’re going to polarize the room. The WebForms folks will challenge you in every way, the MVC folks will either skewer you for not “representing” properly or for not hammering the anti-webforms message home.
There doesn’t need to be any “hammering”. Arguments are never won by belittling people or making yourself superior somehow – Alt.NET essentially destroyed itself (and its reputation) by taking on such hostile tones. The only thing you can do (to borrow a line from Morpheus) is to “show people the door” – they’re the ones that have to walk through it.
Thus was the focus of my talk – but I wanted to bring it out of the WebForms/MVC debate, and suggest something a bit more focused:
We’re arguing about Iced Tea vs. Milk while sitting in a brewery.
As Microsoft developers we’re languishing over two frameworks that are usable and thirst-quenching – but not nearly as fun as what others around us are imbibing. It’s as if we have blinders on.
I think it’s high-time that we expand on this argument. Open this discussion up a bit and broaden the topic to include the rest of the industry. In short I think we need to stop being so comfortable and take a look at the menu – there’s some great stuff to drink in this bar.
Most people who’ve seen my talk think I’m burning bridges or kicking Microsoft to the curb. Others say I’m “spewing bile”. I knew this talk was going to be challenging – it’s hard to “move someone’s cheese” and not get a very strong, negative reaction. I’m ready for it – it’s not going to make me give up.
Losing Focus
It’s a simple concept really: MVC is a wonderful addition to the Microsoft web stack, but it’s not exactly “daring” – not yet anyway. By “daring” I mean “ass-kicking” in the way ASP.NET was when it was first introduced, and ASP Classic when it first came along just 4 years before that.
These platforms inspired thousands of developers – ASP.NET alone was responsible for expanding the Microsoft developer base massively.
Inspiring. Controversial. Wonderful and Fearless.
Many have described the newer web frameworks with exactly the same adjectives: Rails, Sinatra, and Django have inspired and helped so many – and enable so much on the web. Microsoft developers tend to remain completely ignorant of what these frameworks are capable of – and it makes sense as to why.
This lack of awareness, however, is allowing the Microsoft Dev stack to pale more than a little. Moreover – it’s causing some developers to leave the stack entirely – as the platform doesn’t exactly fit where today’s web is at.
Despite What You Think, I Actually Care Very Much
As I mention above, I know people are going to be pissed off at me. The only thing I can do is to try and remain respectful while at the same time saying what I believe. Which is:
It’s time to take some chances, time for a bit more swagger. I miss the old Microsoft that used blow up the technology industry on a regular basis – that used to fight for innovation. What I see now is a company afraid.
I could just walk away – turn my back on the technology that’s supported me throughout my career; but I didn’t. I could keep my mouth shut so I don’t offend my friends and get people riled up – that’s not me.
I’m not “leaving .NET” – that would be too easy. I’d rather step up and be heard – and I hope you do the same. I’m taking a chance here and I’d like to see Microsoft start doing the same. They didn’t get to be Microsoft through mediocrity – and in closing I’d like to ask: are they changing the world?
