The Web 2.0 Quiz!
Sunday, November 6th, 2005 by Mike Rundle
Alright boys and girls, it’s time to put your thinking caps on and your money where your mouth is, because this is the test you’ve been waiting for — it’s time to test your Web 2.0 and AJAX knowledge. You’ve read everywhere about “web 2.0″ applications, “AJAX” effects, and everything else, so now it’s time to see if you actually know what you’re talking about, or are just spitting out buzz words because you hear them over and over. Oh, and if you Google answers before choosing, you’re bound to be stuck in Web 1.0 forever.
The answers will be made available on Wednesday, November 9th, and then I’ll take some time to go over the answers to make sure everybody’s on the same “web 2.0″ track! Leave your answers in the comments section… let’s go!
Question 1:
Let’s start off with something easy: what does the J in AJAX stand for, and who first coined the term?
1. “Java Server Faces” by Jakob Nielsen
2. “Javabeans” by Garrett Dimon
3. “Javascript” by Jesse James Garrett
4. “Javascript” by Scott McNealy
Question 2:
Now that we’re all warmed up, it’s time for something a bit more challenging. Choose the situation where AJAX is most likely to be used:
1. You click on a “Show Tools »” link at the end of a paragraph, and a new section slides out from below it all cool and snazzy like.
2. You click on an icon-sized image, and it fades out until it’s not there anymore.
3. You hover over a link, and the background color turns to red while a little arrow icon appears at the end of the link.
4. You submit a comment on a weblog, and your comment shows up at the bottom of the list without the page reloading.
Question 3:
Okay, next one. When building a web application that uses AJAX, what server-side language do you have to use?
1. Ruby
2. Ruby on Rails
3. PHP
4. ASP.NET
5. LOGO
6. Doesn’t matter
Question 4:
Nice! So okay, what is Ruby on Rails?
1. It’s a programming language
2. It’s a visual effects library
3. It’s a web server
4. It’s a web framework
5. It’s a 37signals Trademark™
Question 5:
Let’s get a little tougher. Visual effects like sliding boxes and fading to-do lists can be achieved by using what code library?
1. Ruby on Rails
2. Prototype
3. Script.aculo.us
4. Greasemonkey
5. ActionScript
Question 6:
A little bit tougher now: AJAX functionality is achieved by using what object?
1. XMLRequest
2. AJAXObjectRequest
3. XMLHttpRequest
4. WSDLRequest
5. I’m not fooled, none of those are right!
Question 7:
To be deemed “web 2.0″ you must use:
1. Ruby on Rails
2. Object-oriented PHP
3. J2EE
4. Pastel colors and dot.ted do.ma.in nam.es
5. All of these
6. It doesn’t matter
And that’s it, quick and dirty! For developers and “people who know this stuff” these questions are no-brainers, but for people older than 35 people who might throw the terms AJAX, “web 2.0″, and Ruby on Rails around haphazardly, they might be a bit tricky :)
Good luck! Digg this quiz!
Reader Comments
31 Responses to “The Web 2.0 Quiz!”
I overheard this at a recent conference:
“I was reprimanded the other day for saying AJAX when I should have said Web 2.0.”
Man, that is sad. Not sad specifically for the person who said it, but sad for this need to latch on to buzzwordiness instead of actually doing work.
And for the record it wasn’t me. I won’t be 35 until next year.
November 6th, 2005 at 6:09 pm
No research done. My answers:
4, 4, 6, 4, 2, 3, 6
Good luck to others.
I have naught more to say right now.
November 6th, 2005 at 6:19 pm
My answers:
3, 4, 6, 4, 3, 3, 6
I’m surprised to have my answers differ with Sidney above.
November 6th, 2005 at 6:48 pm
1. secret answer # 5: Brendan Eich
and the rest as follows: 4, 6, 4, 3, 3, 6
November 6th, 2005 at 7:09 pm
3,4,6,4,3,3,6
November 6th, 2005 at 7:20 pm
What’s an AJAX effect? Ajax has something to do with effects? :)
November 6th, 2005 at 7:54 pm
Can I be really anal and indicate that for question one, none apply as it’s technically JavaScript (capital S)? :)
November 6th, 2005 at 9:18 pm
I fail, but that’s only because I’m already on Web 3.0 :)
November 6th, 2005 at 9:38 pm
I am not completely sure but from what I understand: 3, 4, 6, 4, 2, 3, 6.
November 6th, 2005 at 11:18 pm
Thanks for testing us!
My answers: 4, 4, 6, 4, 3, 5, 6.
November 7th, 2005 at 2:27 am
Question 7, revised:
To be deemed “web 2.0″ you must use/have:
#5.5 An API for public consumption.
(3,4,6,4,3,3,5.5)
*I* heard that if you don’t have an API you aren’t web 2.0.
November 7th, 2005 at 3:36 am
I’m not _quite_ 35 but I’ve got a few grey hairs. I’ll take a shot at
3 (if you’re referring to the term AJAX - javascript was coined by Brendan Eich of Netscape), 4, 6, 4, 3 (which is built on 2), 3, 6.
BTW: Has Web 2.0 been released yet? Where can I download it? I hope it’s not too big a download ;-)
November 7th, 2005 at 4:09 am
3, 2, 6, 4, 3, 3, 6.
And how stupid is this quiz, anyway? (Now I’m secured if I got anyone wrong.)
November 7th, 2005 at 8:34 am
I fail, but that’s only because I’m already on Web Infinity. - Ha ha.
November 7th, 2005 at 12:32 pm
Amen, I’m so glad somebody mentioned this ROR == Web 2.0 nonsense. I’m sure it’s a great framework and all, and I’ll even set aside some time to learn it one of these days. But, I’m tired of all these posts about having to use ROR to be considered web 2.0. It’s only a tool, the end result is what should be judged.
November 7th, 2005 at 2:26 pm
Question 7:
To be deemed “web 2.0″ you must be a valid Web 2.0 Site. Feel free to test your site, if it passes, then your site is Web 2.0, until you pass you shall remain Web 1.9.
Web 2.0 validator
November 7th, 2005 at 5:55 pm
I used to use AJAX to clean my bathtub and hard to reach shower grime. Now I use Scrubbin’ Bubbles, and I have oodles of free time on my hands.
November 7th, 2005 at 8:39 pm
I remember the buzzword boys from the old days of web 1.0 . Usually these were the monkeys from marketing. Best way to use the buzz was to bamboozle them with terminology till they were so hopelessly confused that I could turn them any which way I wanted :) worked then, could work now :)
November 8th, 2005 at 5:56 pm
(4, 4, 6, 4, 2, 3, 6)
November 8th, 2005 at 9:24 pm
4,4,6,3,5,3,6
January 4th, 2006 at 8:39 pm
Hey,
I got them all right and I’m 36!
What does that mean?
I’m young at heart… that’ll do :)
- A
January 6th, 2006 at 1:04 am
4,4,6,4,3,3,6
I can’t believe no one else had this combination.
February 9th, 2006 at 7:37 pm
Almost right Justin, but Jesse James Garrett was the one who coined the term AJAX :)
February 9th, 2006 at 7:41 pm
Mike I think the first question was a little ambiguous, which coined term are you asking for AJAX or (J)avascript? I assumed javascript at first but then when the correct answer was not present I realised you must have meant AJAX or just put your foot in your mouth.
June 28th, 2006 at 10:21 am
I got them all right and I’m 47!! Woo-hoo!!
July 6th, 2006 at 8:57 am
OK, there is a lot of buzz around the new bubble.
So what do you think would be a good label for companies who aren’t interested in a buzz-n-flip approach but focus on building useful tools, with whatever tech bits are relevant, like we are trying to do at The Hyperwords Company?
We don’t have a lot of pastels, we did AJAX-style interaction way before the term was called and all we have is a tiny little Firefox extension to make all text, not just manually-coded web links, active and interactive.
Seriously, any useful ideas? :-)
July 7th, 2006 at 12:50 pm
Technically, for those of you who answered script.aculo.us for #5, script.aculo.us is built on top of prototype.
July 10th, 2006 at 7:25 pm
3,4,6,4,3,3,6
does it count that I am also a web developer? ;)
September 26th, 2006 at 7:55 pm
This is probably going to be embarasing…
4 4 6 4 3 3 6
September 26th, 2006 at 8:30 pm
Does “over 35″ mean that you got to be a manager and/or you simply to stupid to understand this new stuff? I my case, both are true, but that didn’t stop me from building an application with it that actually works and the customer is paying for. All done in RoR with carefully selected ajax stuff. You can read my story on http://fatherof4.wordpress.com/
September 27th, 2006 at 12:25 am
4, 4, 6, 4, 3, 3, 4
Bring on the prizes!
September 27th, 2006 at 5:27 am
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