Sawyer X

After struggling with ExtJS for a while, I've decided to let go of it. Not in favor of jQueryUI or any other UI. Not even if favor of writing a UI myself (other than, perhaps, a few loose forms that make you want to vomit). I've decided to work on what I do - the backend.

This is actually something that took me a while to understand. I don't write UIs, I don't write websites, I don't write frontend. I'm not good at that, it doesn't even interest me. I love working on backend, I like writing the engine, I like fiddling with the Perl code. I don't enjoy Javascript, I don't enjoy XHTML, CSS, or any other such thing. I don't like debugging obscure IE bugs. It's not my thing.

Then, why was I trying to work with ExtJS. Well, maybe because I'm condescending. I thought that I could learn a whole profession (and a [stupid] language) as I go. Evidently, that wasn't so. Yeah, I could mock up some CSS layout (and even [pretend to] use a CSS framework like BlueprintCSS), and I could get a layout and work with it, but in the end of the day - I literally know little about what I'm doing.

I've decided for the current offline project to work on the code, provide the stupid interface I always do and tell my friend to get someone to do the interface if he wants to. "I don't do interfaces" is finally entering my vocabulary as a permanent phrase.

This reminds me of the time I worked on a website with my girlfriend. She did the design (because it's what she does), I wrote the Catalyst backend. Out of the blue - on a meeting - the client throws "so you guys do the SEO as well, right?" and I was a bit shocked but responded with "SEO is an entire field, it's a profession. We can do optimizations, prepare it for SEO and a few nice tricks, but we we're not an SEO company and I suggest you hire someone for that." The automatic response from his (uneducated - not as an insult) was "But this ISP right here offered me a website for $4 and SEO services for free!" I replied with "a company that sells you a website for $4 will sell you a $4 worth website. And I wouldn't trust on someone giving you SEO for free while-we're-at-it style when it's millions of dollars industry."

I don't do SEO, I don't do UI, I don't do interfaces (at least web). If they will interest me, I'll learn them (like I learned Perl or C) and work on them. Meanwhile I'll get someone else to do them. Or whenever it's not my business - I'll tell the client (or friend, in this case) that it's their decision.