Top 5 Most Interesting Web Applications To Build For In 2009

2009 will be an exciting year for web application development – we’ll see the unveling of the long-awaited and possibly mythical Twitter revenue model, and hopefully a few truly disruptive technologies/platform/applications that will change our focus. Here at the start of 2009, I thought I would write about the top 5 web applications that I will be focussed on developing for:

1. Twitter:  This goes without saying, but I’m saying it anyway. Twitter is huge; and it’s going to get bigger. There will be money to be made for Twitter application developers, unless they do something silly like Faceook did last year. Moreover, Twitter is fun to develop for – if you haven’t tried it yet, give it a whirl, you’ll enjoy it. Look for a Blerz.com post on beginner Twitter app development in a few weeks time.

2. Facebook: Yes, I realize I just referenced the ‘silly’ thing Facebook did last year; that is, the unveiling of ‘The New Facebook’. While not as bad a blunder as say, ‘The New Coke’, it wasn’t too popular with users, and even more reviled by developers. That being said, if you can make a truly viral, interesting, useful and location aware Facebook app, then you are going to have a hell of a year.

3. IPhone: Depending on what Macworld is like in January, there may or may not be any insanley cool changes coming to the IPhone in 2009 – but chances are there will be some things that will attract more users, which means more people browsing the app Stor for something fun and cool or fun and interesting. Mobile computing as a replacement for desktop computng is still  on the horizon – but the IPhone is pushing us toward it now, so get in on the ground floor.

4. WordPress: WordPress is awesome. I don’t see anything replacing it as the de facto standard for web publishing any time soon, and certainly not in 2009. Making premium themes with cool features is going to make you some money. Fresh new design will be a plus, so remember to keep cross-training (Development + Design). Working with WordPress I think can allow developers to get a little more well-rounded, and designers can get their feet wet with a good, simple API and everyones favorite web language, PHP. I’m currently drafting a post on WordPress plugin development that will cover everything an absolute beginner needs to know to build a cool WordPress plugin. And since I’ve never built one, you’ll be seeing it from inception to completion from the ground up.

5. OpenSocial: While what I’ve seen of it so far isn’t as impressive as I’d hoped, it does have the power of the Google behind it, and the potential to reach a lot of users. Let’s face it, ignoring anything backed by Google is a mistake these days – especially something that they so obviously will do anthig to make work. Get familiar with it, and build an OpenSocial app for every Facebook app you make.