Ajaxian has its predictions up for 2007 and I like just about everything they have on it.

It’s the time of year to be posting random predictions for 2007. Here are 2007 Ajax predictions from Dion and myself, please post your own in the comments.

Dion predicts:

  • Ajax beats AJAX in all but bad newspapers.
  • Someone tries to coin Ajax 2.0.
  • A large amount of apps have flash AND ajax, and users don’t know or care.
  • Many frameworks consilidate or die.
  • A widget api means componts can run on many frameworks using one api.
  • Ajax wpf/e interop.
  • Dashboards become front boards.
  • More desktop apps get written with javascript.

Michael predicts:

  • 2005 was the year that developers learned all about Ajax and by 2006 everyone else in the industry had caught up. In 2007, is is mainstream users who become acutely aware of the trend towards rich applications inside the browser, and discover that even word-processors and spreadsheets - along with a wide array of workplace applications - can be webified. At the same time, users remain oblivious - and rightly so - to the underlying technologies that power them.
  • The boundaries of Ajax harden, with most developers gaining a clear understanding of what it can and can’t do with modern browsers and managers in a better position to decide on application architecture (whether to use Ajax, Flash, desktop, etc.).
  • More attention on Ajax accessibility due to some government report or court case.
  • Google Office. Finally!
  • Backlash against Google Office as managers learn that their data must be hosted externally in order to use it. Pressure from bloggers and some analysts to make an Office appliance that can live behind the firewall, but it’s not happening in 2007.
  • The advertising and media communities finally become aware that page view metrics are no longer the only way, but generally treat it as a problem and fail to see that the situation is actually better than before.
  • Several fringe technologies heat up as developers notice they are already being used in some applications and learn how to apply them: HTTP Streaming (Comet), Virtual Workspace (Live Scrolling - never-ending scrollbars), Cross-Domain JSON (along with JSONP, JSON APIs, JSONRequest, and a general lack of awareness about the JSON security issues), Unique URLs (bookmarkability/back button), Lazy Registration (personalized functionality before formal signup). Comet in particular … it may be 8 or 9 years old, but it’s big news in 2007.
  • Other fringe technologies grow, but remain, well, fringe. Such as Host-Proof Hosting and applications involving offline storage.
  • With its excellent documentation and pattern language integration, the Yahoo UI library becomes the standard weapon of choice among mainstream developers seeking a pure Javascript framework. In the Java world, GWT makes great strides as the platform becomes richer and design patterns emerge.
  • Mobile web development continues to suck.
  • Javascript increasingly recognised as the world’s most popular “second language” and becomes popular as a lingua franca to describe generic programming concepts. Several attempts at server-side Javascript frameworks.
  • IE7 causes more than a few headaches.
  • Firebug is installed by pretty much any developer using Firefox.
  • CSS is back, baby! Echoing the recent mass adoption of Javascript, developers who previously had a fleeting familiarity with CSS now become fluent practitioners.

Best wishes for 2007, however you play your Ajax!

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