3 ms·

Yeah, I was there too. (Web dev for a living since 1998.) I remember sending HTML fragments over the wire too...

• ams6110 9y ago
  If data were in XML format, XSLT could be used from javascript (or vbscript) in the browsr for the DOM generation. Was pretty slick up to a point, but since it was a blocking operation anything beyond a certain size started to noticeably lock up the browser.
  • throwaway84742 9y ago
    I’ve done some of that as well, in different contexts. Those were the days. Virgin territory, uncomplicated, no cross-browser concerns. I haven’t touched frontend since 2005, and looking at it now it’s horrifying. Even the hairiest C++ backend is easier for me now, just because once you write it it doesn’t need to be “updated” for the next decade. Frontend seems to change every 6 months for no apparent benefit.
    • bryanrasmussen 9y ago
      yes but we also change every 9 months based on the analysis of what happened with the 6 month no benefit change. So there's that!
    • chrisweekly 9y ago
      > "no cross-browser concerns" wat. the original browser wars? ns vs ie? 2 incompatible implementations w/ no tooling to help?
      • barrkel 9y ago
        Uncomplicated in those days meant IE5, everywhere.
      • throwaway84742 9y ago
        It was a Microsoft tool for Windows only. There wasn’t even a question that other browsers should not be supported.