Thumbs up  to Vikram Vaswani who provided such a good example, explanations and links to extra resources!

Simple examples of working code are priceless, as you can build on top of them until they become more complex and the desired result is reached. They can be a huge time saver. Of course you need to know enough to read and understand what is going on in the example. But good examples will be simple enough to demonstrate the point, and will eliminate the need to read a lot of documentation.  

As they say “one picture is worth 1000 words”. Same goes for a simple code example, that you can just copy / paste and it works!

Have you ever needed a developer’s help and got the arrogant response: “Oh, it is so easy, no problem. Just do this and that”, then you try it for a while and it never works. So you ask this smartass to show you how simple it is, and for an hour the developer will sit with your computer trying this and that until he gives up and admits it is not so simple.  

On the other hand, there are other developers that when you ask them for help, will say “let me check and I will come back to you”, and after an hour you get an e-mail with a simple working example. Problem solved!

Collecting simple code examples that work well will pay off big time. Having friends to share the examples with, is the way to go. 

So if you have good examples or know sites that have – Just bring it on!

When starting up a new web application, if you have a good idea with identified market need, focus on: Functionality – giving an added value, with capabilities other web apps are lacking and Simplicity for ease of use.
Users will like it and adopt the application even if design in very basic

In several projects I was involved in the past, customers and sponsors didn’t put emphasis on design and didn’t dedicate budget for graphic designer. It was frustrating. For me design is a hobby and it was hard to understand the lack of focus on design

But when seeing sites like craigslist, del.icio.us doing so well with basic design, it give some food for thought

So… how much energy should be spent on perfecting a web application design?

I rather have sorter list of the best useful resources.

Here are few resources lists that I like.

• http://www.forwebdesigners.com/ – very nice list
  
• http://www.tlbox.com/ – Allows you to mark your favorites
  
• http://webdevelopersfieldguide.com/
  
• http://www.alvit.de/handbook/
  
• http://webstandardsgroup.org/resources/
  
• http://webdeveloper.econsultant.com/

So many resources to explore… not enough time

Those lists can be very useful and help easily find good resources on various topics of design and development. Still so many times the list will contain links to resources that are partially useful, and it will turn out as a waste of time.

Characteristics of useful development resource site:

• Simple explanation
• Click to demonstrate how the code works
• Option to download the code

Of course the code needs to be simple, clean, documented and working!

All this may sound trivial but surprisingly not many sites will score well on all those aspects.

And even if the world does not need another best recourses list, I have started to collect links for a new resource list, which hopefully will include only the best, useful and practical links.

Recommendations on such resources are welcome!

There are many sites that grade web hosting services according to service categories, but it is so confusing as the lists of hosts each site recommends is different. To make it harder I suspect that the reliability of some of those directories sites is questionable (as the grading of the hosting services is not supported by measurable data). Also, to confuse you more – if you search the net for info on one of the recommended hosting services you will find some good reviews along with bad reviews.

So how to find a good host? first you need to understand your needs such as space, Cost, bandwidth, support, programs and scripts (see articles about this topic, in one of the links below).

Then:

• Browse web hosting directories for recommendations
• Ask for recommendations in hosting forums and development forums

Once you find a host you want to try:

• Search the web for reviews on the host service
• Make sure the host provides money back guarantied option
• Test customer support by calling or on-line chat
• Try out the service for a trail period.

Few hosting related resources:

• http://webdesign.about.com/od/findahost/
  Articles about hosting services
• http://reviews.cnet.com/web-hosting/?tag=cnetfd.dir
  Web hosting directories and tools
• http://www.16hosts.com/
  Reviews and rebates hosting services
• http://www.tophosts.com/top25-web-hosts.html
  Grading, Articles and forum
• http://www.webhostingunleashed.com/
  Web Hosting Reviews, Guides, and Articles

And hosting forums

• http://www.webhostingtalk.com/
• http://www.hosthideout.com/
• http://www.hostingforum.ca/

• http://www.csselite.com/ -
  Showcasing well designed web sites and development resources. They do good job in sites selection, as the quality of the sites displayed is impressive.
• http://www.smashingmagazine.com/ -
  Web magazine for designers and web-developers. Has many good articles covering site design. For example
  • 45-excellent-blog-designs
  • 60-elegant-and-visually-appealling-designs
• http://www.designmeltdown.com/ -
  Specializing in categorizing web designs by colors, design element and techniques, site types and more.

Also worth a visit:

•  
  • http://www.unmatchedstyle.com/
  • http://www.cult-f.net/
  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/splat/sets/981332/
  • http://thebestdesigns.com/
  • http://www.cssbloom.com

If your site is well designed, most of the sites above have a submit link option. Should be an awesome achievement to be listed on a design inspiration list.

Where can more good design inspiration sites be found? Pls share!