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I used to do web 'things', but have been out of the loop for quite some time now. I'm intrigued by the idea of doing everything with one language / ecosystem.

I used to do web 'things', but have been out of the loop for quite some time now. I'm intrigued by the idea of doing everything with one language / ecosystem. So, I'm asking you - as an ye olde php (and laravel) guy, where would one even start? I guess node.js and expressjs is where I look first and then branch out? Also, what's with the build systems? Isn't it js?

tpfour 9y ago
I recently had to build a small web app. I mostly code for fun, and I've been writing Python for years. I was able to learn how to use VueJS with single file components in about a week, with Flask as a backend, plus Bulma as a CSS framework. Nothing fancy but it works flawlessly. Also, the Vue team offers a Webpack template so I didn't have to spend a minute learning about that. Overall very pleasant experience. Edit: woops, forgot to say what I actually wanted to say! You don't need to write everything in one language. I actually abhorred that idea, and glad I found a stack that 1. doesn't need much maintenance 2. doesn't force me to spend countless hours learning about why XYZ is better than ABC and how QRT were wrong about this and that and learning 100 different new concepts and terms. I put together the stack myself, and it worked without me having to bend my programming knowledge to the particular task. There's value in this.
- ldd 9y ago
  I just want to say that react/vue(javascript) on the frontend and flask(python) on the backend is a combo made in heaven: So I don't think you are the only one :D
pfranz 9y ago
I feel like I was similarly curious a year ago. I think this is a good tutorial for introducing the pieces one at a time: https://github.com/verekia/js-stack-from-scratch https://github.com/verekia/js-stack-from-scratch It is opinionated (as in, it picks a single option; webpack instead of gulp, react instead of angular or vue), but I think it does a good job of introducing things in isolation. I ran through the tutorial a couple times after I was more familiar with things.
neutronicus 9y ago
Clojure and ClojureScript ;) One language, running on a JVM on the server and compiled to JavaScript on the browser.
wcarron 9y ago
Node.js and express.js are server side. Use them for your API. It's pretty simple to grok if the docs are read. The docs for both are pretty good. On the client side, I personally use vue.js + webpack. It works for me. With the nicely focussed supporting libraries (vuex, vue-router, vue-resource), I find it easy to write performant, maintainable code. I've also written a few react apps. It's basically a slightly different approach to the same problem. It's a more mature community and has better testing solutions. Either are good bets. For a build system I prefer webpack despite the apparent complexity. It's really just a way to transform node.js module into modules you can use in the browser. Gulp is an option but if going that route I'd just use npm scripts
flavio81 9y ago
>ye olde php (and laravel) guy, where would one even start Both PHP and JavaScript started as ill-conceived and/or rushed-up projects that due to (different) circumstances became hugely popular, and thus, the warts and faults started to be addressed and corrected little by little. In this "correction" process, PHP 7 is much more farther away (more advanced, more mature) than the current state of Javascript, so i'd advise to stick to PHP 7; for the front-end, if you want to explore what you could do with heavy front-ends (i.e. Single page apps), try something like ClojureScript rather than straight JS.

tpfour 9y ago

I recently had to build a small web app. I mostly code for fun, and I've been writing Python for years. I was able to learn how to use VueJS with single file components in about a week, with Flask as a backend, plus Bulma as a CSS framework. Nothing fancy but it works flawlessly. Also, the Vue team offers a Webpack template so I didn't have to spend a minute learning about that. Overall very pleasant experience. Edit: woops, forgot to say what I actually wanted to say! You don't need to write everything in one language. I actually abhorred that idea, and glad I found a stack that 1. doesn't need much maintenance 2. doesn't force me to spend countless hours learning about why XYZ is better than ABC and how QRT were wrong about this and that and learning 100 different new concepts and terms. I put together the stack myself, and it worked without me having to bend my programming knowledge to the particular task. There's value in this.

ldd 9y ago
I just want to say that react/vue(javascript) on the frontend and flask(python) on the backend is a combo made in heaven: So I don't think you are the only one :D

pfranz 9y ago

I feel like I was similarly curious a year ago. I think this is a good tutorial for introducing the pieces one at a time: https://github.com/verekia/js-stack-from-scratch https://github.com/verekia/js-stack-from-scratch It is opinionated (as in, it picks a single option; webpack instead of gulp, react instead of angular or vue), but I think it does a good job of introducing things in isolation. I ran through the tutorial a couple times after I was more familiar with things.

neutronicus 9y ago

Clojure and ClojureScript ;) One language, running on a JVM on the server and compiled to JavaScript on the browser.

wcarron 9y ago

Node.js and express.js are server side. Use them for your API. It's pretty simple to grok if the docs are read. The docs for both are pretty good. On the client side, I personally use vue.js + webpack. It works for me. With the nicely focussed supporting libraries (vuex, vue-router, vue-resource), I find it easy to write performant, maintainable code. I've also written a few react apps. It's basically a slightly different approach to the same problem. It's a more mature community and has better testing solutions. Either are good bets. For a build system I prefer webpack despite the apparent complexity. It's really just a way to transform node.js module into modules you can use in the browser. Gulp is an option but if going that route I'd just use npm scripts

flavio81 9y ago

>ye olde php (and laravel) guy, where would one even start Both PHP and JavaScript started as ill-conceived and/or rushed-up projects that due to (different) circumstances became hugely popular, and thus, the warts and faults started to be addressed and corrected little by little. In this "correction" process, PHP 7 is much more farther away (more advanced, more mature) than the current state of Javascript, so i'd advise to stick to PHP 7; for the front-end, if you want to explore what you could do with heavy front-ends (i.e. Single page apps), try something like ClojureScript rather than straight JS.