As Joel says, it is easy to write bad applications and easier for non developers to write even worse applications. I have known people to go from Notes administrator roles straight into development roles and write the most awful applications using mostly formula as they have no scripting experience.
These applications are then deployed companywide where they work for a while and then 'break' due to the limitations of THE DEVELOPER not Notes. I am at present having to rewrite a number of these applications which are causing major problems and cannot believe how awful they are. Hard coded names and major reliance on Replication formulas for security to name just two things (I hate replication formulas and have never developed a database which would use these). If I was new to Notes, I would certainly NEVER want to use it having seen them. Also, a number of developers I have seen concentrate so much on the back end that they give no thought to how it looks for the user. My first thought with development is to make something that makes the experience pleasurable for the user; if they don't like the look of it they have a completely different perception of it even if it works fantastically in the back end. Imagine a LADA with a Ferrari engine - enough said I think. (sorry all you Lada owners, I'm sure they are lovely really).
I do get a great buzz showing people something in Notes (showing off really) that they could not believe possible and it is these things that give them the faith to continue with it.
As Joel says, it is easy to write bad applications and easier for non developers to write even worse applications. I have known people to go from Notes administrator roles straight into development roles and write the most awful applications using mostly formula as they have no scripting experience.
These applications are then deployed companywide where they work for a while and then 'break' due to the limitations of THE DEVELOPER not Notes. I am at present having to rewrite a number of these applications which are causing major problems and cannot believe how awful they are. Hard coded names and major reliance on Replication formulas for security to name just two things (I hate replication formulas and have never developed a database which would use these). If I was new to Notes, I would certainly NEVER want to use it having seen them. Also, a number of developers I have seen concentrate so much on the back end that they give no thought to how it looks for the user. My first thought with development is to make something that makes the experience pleasurable for the user; if they don't like the look of it they have a completely different perception of it even if it works fantastically in the back end. Imagine a LADA with a Ferrari engine - enough said I think. (sorry all you Lada owners, I'm sure they are lovely really).
I do get a great buzz showing people something in Notes (showing off really) that they could not believe possible and it is these things that give them the faith to continue with it.
I LOVE NOTES I just hate bad developers.
...and relax!