Where to learn about highly scalable applications

I always have the feeling that most web developers don't have the necessary eye and low level (at least some protocol level) knowledge to spot problems and create serious sites. Many of my friends are joking that web development is for the 10 years old Steve but if we take a look around on the web this isn't so funny...

Sure. But worst thing is actually the industrial design. Very few sites provide design which does not hurt my eyes, forget about usability and navigation. It looks like corporate site developers come from porno industry... And how about those three columns which occupy only the central strip of the screen width?..
—SA

:-) :-) :-) I think this is more or less the result of backward compatibility, some people think that so many people have still narrow screens. I don't know what is the truth behind this. Another thing that motivates people to create "central strip" style site is that this way you can more or less avoid creating the site for both PC and mobile devices but today the funny thing is that some tablets already have much better resolution than our 22" and 24" monitors... I'm not a big fun of revolutionary user interfaces on PC and the same is true for web sites. Simple stupid arrangement, minimalistic design with standard controls with a simple menus and an optional site map, that's all I need. This can be skinned easily to be pleasing for the eye by a smart designer.

No, I think this is the result of not using brains and doing "like others". Original simple HTML is all fluid, elements occupy either necessary size or stretch full width. This is decorations which make layout stiff. Normally, everything is solved with liquid, fluid, elastic design. Of course, HTML standards are ugly and present a lot of hassles, forget about particular layout engine implementations...
—SA

not using brains and doing "like others": very good phrasing! :-) To do it well you need some experience, taking some responsibility and having your own opinion. Not using brains? I'm not surprised about this. Here "professionals" are schooled rather than being educated.

You see, the real problem is not luck of brains, but the lack of habit to use them. (Good phrasing? Thank you, but the topic itself is sad.) I face it in people quite intellectual, but still practically very unwise or lazy. I assume you familiar with people who are ready to do a lot more work out of laziness...
—SA

Those programming for cost-of-living without enthusiasm? In my opinion it's often not laziness but a total lack of interest.

Without enthusiasm? Poor people... I guess this is only because they cannot secure a position as a McDonald's worker. :-)

However, this is life. Many people do have enthusiasm at first, but letter find themselves working in <scratch>bad typical companies. And changing anything at work or one's own life takes a lot of character. A lot...

—SA

So true, yet the real method is simple, by using percent's of total screen width, instead of pt, or pixel, or other older graphical formatting.

If you are searching for the golden hammer then stop it because it doesn't exist. Every unique problem can be solved with several acceptable solutions and in case of scalable network solutions usually there is no perfect and optimal solution just solutions with advantages and disadvantages. Today a ("cloud") solution usually has to offer both scalability and high availability and the mixture of these can be implemented in so many ways and not all solutions suit every problems.

Start solving problems and you will face many interesting problems - by searching for solutions you will learn a lot. A single answer here can not replace years of experience. Even if someone had the time he wouldn't be able to dump the gray areas of his brain about every single problem he solved over the years but he will probably remember it if he faces the same problem again. He is better than an unexperienced because of his experience. If you want to kickstart yourself then search for a few books on the topic but those cant completely replace real life experience.

Website or non-website: Usually the problem is the same. Often the communication protocol consists of client_request-server_response pairs even if the protocol is not HTTP. Network communication is always like issuing asynchronous method calls over the wire (client_request contains the function/method parameters, the server_response is the function/method return value optionally if present), often these method calls go only in one direction, sometimes in two directions - the existence of sophisticated RPC/RMI frameworks that make your network code beautiful is not a coincidence...

There are no secrets. :-) The problem is rather that there is a huge load of material to learn and to be honest I wouldn't be able to point on specific good books from where you could gain the required knowledge. I've learnt everything related to the topic from teammates and from my own adventures.

You are welcome. If you want to solve some specific problems and you can narrow down your question then you can get help here at CP. And of course you should take a look around for some books (amazon, google), maybe you find some useful ones (even if their topic is not a 100% match with your questions). You have to research and read a lot. The more you know, the wider range of problems you can solve well and creatively.