I think the key is that what the browser (client) gets should be coordinates. If the server side wants to use some wazoo auto-layout engine, that's fine. And th

I think the key is that what the browser (client) gets should be coordinates. If the server side wants to use some wazoo auto-layout engine, that's fine. And that gives one a wide choice of layout engines/algorithms, unlike browsers. Yes, browsers do have different layout engines available, but they all go through buggy and inconsistent JavaScript and CSS in the end: the chain is as strong as the weakest link.