W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention • Hacker News Board

W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#1

Post by infdaze » Fri, Jan 14, 2011, 5:07 PM UTC

We are passionate about the web, learning, and craftsmanship. We want you, as web designers and developers, to be successful in your careers. We feel, though, that W3Schools is harming the community with inaccurate information. Like any other authoritative educational resource, W3Schools should both hold itself to, and be held to, the highest standards.

We hope we can illuminate why W3Schools is a troublesome resource, why their faulty information is a detriment to the web, and what you (and they) can do about it.

~ members of the Front-end Dev Community, January 14th, 2011

W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention
w3fools.com

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#2

Post by gf3 » Fri, Jan 14, 2011, 5:13 PM UTC

If you read through the content you'll see it's not an attack. It simply addresses some major flaws in W3Schools as well as some sketchy business practices.

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#3

Post by hacktheplanet » Fri, Jan 14, 2011, 5:15 PM UTC

Hack the planet!

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#4

Post by rmason » Fri, Jan 14, 2011, 5:21 PM UTC

I think w3schools would benefit greatly from an open dialog with the community or perhaps an advisory board.

But launching a frontal assault isn't the way to solve the problem.

I note with irony that the w3fools site displays as a blank page in IE-8 ;<(

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#5

Post by michaelty » Fri, Jan 14, 2011, 5:21 PM UTC

"The whole concept of closures doesn't exist at W3Schools. Also, they never go over the difference between a function declaration and a function expression. I know this is for beginners, but they could at least put it in the advanced section, or make it apparent that functions are first-class?"

Damn, that is awful.

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#6

Post by ambirex » Fri, Jan 14, 2011, 5:21 PM UTC

gf3 wrote: post #2

If you read through the content you'll see it's not an attack. It simply addresses some major flaws in W3Schools as well as some sketchy business practices.

Perhaps the using the term "fools" could be seen as an attack. They do bring up some interesting grievances.

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#7

Post by venturebros » Fri, Jan 14, 2011, 5:26 PM UTC

hmm I always use W3Schools but I have never used to learn anything just to refresh my memory on something

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#8

Post by kellysutton » Fri, Jan 14, 2011, 5:28 PM UTC

I feel like the world just told me Santa Claus doesn't exist.

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#9

Post by steverenz » Fri, Jan 14, 2011, 5:30 PM UTC

ambirex wrote: post #6

gf3 wrote: post #2

If you read through the content you'll see it's not an attack. It simply addresses some major flaws in W3Schools as well as some sketchy business practices.

Perhaps the using the term "fools" could be seen as an attack. They do bring up some interesting grievances.

Their points are valid of course...but it seems laughably naive to treat this as some kind of cause that developers should rally around. And their response to "why don't you build a better version' made me laugh - it sort of encapsulates internet culture in general. I'd like to see more links to better sites for rank beginners than this "call to arms" stuff.

Re: W3Fools - A W3Schools Intervention

#10

Post by unreal37 » Fri, Jan 14, 2011, 5:30 PM UTC

First let me say, I am a web developer and use W3Schools as a reference. The web would be a worse place without it. They deserve their high Google ranking.

So to attack something that is on the whole good, which may be 99% accurate but not 100% accurate, seems mean-spirited. Someone put a lot of time into this, and it's a shame they didn't do something productive instead of destructive.