Jun 05 2007 at 10:46am
4 Reasons Why Free Code Needs to be Standards Compliant
Mike Cherim has another post today about the poor quality of free code. This is something I’ve come across many times – you think there should be a script out there to do what you need to do, go out looking, find something that looks good only to realize that they’ve got layout tables embedded in the PHP. Do you try to fix it or go look for something else? If there is nothing else, do you decide to make it yourself to avoid the hassle?
These developers don’t seem to realize that there is a problem with writing code like this. Here are 4 reasons why distributed code needs to be of high quality and standards compliant:
- It’s easier for people to integrate into their own sites. If you separate presentation from structure, other developers can easily change the appearance without much difficulty. That’s why you’re distributing this, right? To make it easier for other people? Please don’t make it harder!
- It’s simpler and easier to maintain. If it’s standards-compliant, other developers will have an easier time working with it. This is particularly important for open-source tools.
- Many designers will not use something that is not standards compliant. Why restrict your audience by writing outdated code?
- The people with the linking power like standards. Everyone knows that links are key to getting better search engine rankings. If you don’t use high quality, standards-compliant code then you’re missing out on links from standards-compliant developers. Links that Google values quite highly.
Can you think of more? (Note: these are in addition to the usual reasons we hear for authoring to standards – things that apply specifically to distributed code).
P.S. Don’t forget to help Mike spread the word about this problem! From now on I will be contacting developers if I decide not to use their scripts because of poor quality code.
Adam Kinder June 5th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
I’ve been racking up 10,15 hours working on Section 508 compliance stuff for work, and I immediately thought you were talking about disability compliance.
I need to take a break heh
jeevesbond July 10th, 2007 at 4:24 am
Better be careful about complaining too much.
Free software developers will probably respond better to patches (or at least some kind of submission), they don’t like people just turning up, saying: ‘ZOMG, your code is t3h suXx0rZ!’ That sort of thing happens all the time, which must get annoying as they’re generally writing code for free.
Even an offer to help a little is good. Chances are standards compliance will be on a project’s wish list, they just haven’t got to it yet (these mostly being volunteers). Also, if you submit some fixes everyone gets the benefits.
If you’re unsure, join the mailing list, tell them what you’d like to do and ask for a little help on getting started. It’s easier than you think.
Megan July 11th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Jeeves, you know we’ve talked about this before
The reason why someone like me would want to use free scripts is to save time and work. Contributing to the project would be nice but only if I can be bothered, which most of the time I can’t. I did contact the developers of one of the scripts I attempted to use and offered to submit standards compliant code but nobody expressed any interest.