3 ms·

The way in which we consume and deliver via internet has moved on from the early days of the web. It's no longer just text, images and links. There's much more

by osrec 6y ago

The way in which we consume and deliver via internet has moved on from the early days of the web. It's no longer just text, images and links. There's much more to it now, and SPAs are a reasonable step forward to providing richer experiences online with more functionality. Not sure you could ever call them an anti-pattern.

timw4mail 6y ago
> It's no longer just text, images and links. Assuming you add video, 99% of the web is just text,images,links,forms, and video. None of these things even require Javascript.
- osrec 6y ago
  I'd say a big part of the web is gaming, chatting, interacting. A lot of that content updates every few seconds. Without JS, websockets, ajax requests etc, do you suggest users load the entire page again whenever they want to see an updated view?! Or is your opinion that it should only be possible to do those things in native, purpose-built apps? Because in that case, how do you justify using an operating system? Perhaps we should exclusively use purpose-built assembly code that you flash to some writable media every time you want to run a particular program!
  - timw4mail 6y ago
    As another poster said: The right tool for the right job. Also, a SPA is not the only option with Javascript.
chipotle_coyote 6y ago
How would the site we’re communicating on right now be improved if it were rebuilt as an SPA?
- osrec 6y ago
  Threading could be clearer. Less data would need to be loaded on each page load. I can imagine that a lightweight SPA to handle the a few standard views (e.g. listItems, itemDetails, profile, changePassword, submit) would cut down data transfer by a significant margin (20-30%, maybe more). The UI could also be much better on mobile, and we could give users the option to cache certain pieces of content offline.
  - runawaybottle 6y ago
    What you’re suggesting is heresy on HN. It’s true, a little bit of interactivity, fonts/padding/spacing would improve HN. To this day my thumb covers both the upvote and down vote button.
    - osrec 6y ago
      Yes, the UX on mobile leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion. The two things that are going for HN in its current form is the fact that it's lightweight and fast. A lot of people think that moving to an SPA would mean killing both those aspects. But the truth is, you CAN have an SPA that is both lightweight and fast - the developer just needs to know what they're doing.
      - timw4mail 6y ago
        I have yet to see this...
        runawaybottle 6y ago
        You can check out nodebb for example, tons of JavaScript and quite frankly it’s a better forum experience than reddit or HN: https://community.nodebb.org/category/2/general-discussion https://community.nodebb.org/category/2/general-discussion
  - ptx 6y ago
    Offline use already works great, unlike in any SPA I've ever used. 1) Load the page. 2) The page is now fully loaded and ready for reading without any need for further network requests. For even more offline use, try printing it! HN threads work superbly when printed, again unlike most modern sites.

by osrec 6y ago

timw4mail 6y ago

> It's no longer just text, images and links. Assuming you add video, 99% of the web is just text,images,links,forms, and video. None of these things even require Javascript.

osrec 6y ago
I'd say a big part of the web is gaming, chatting, interacting. A lot of that content updates every few seconds. Without JS, websockets, ajax requests etc, do you suggest users load the entire page again whenever they want to see an updated view?! Or is your opinion that it should only be possible to do those things in native, purpose-built apps? Because in that case, how do you justify using an operating system? Perhaps we should exclusively use purpose-built assembly code that you flash to some writable media every time you want to run a particular program!
- timw4mail 6y ago
  As another poster said: The right tool for the right job. Also, a SPA is not the only option with Javascript.

chipotle_coyote 6y ago

How would the site we’re communicating on right now be improved if it were rebuilt as an SPA?

osrec 6y ago
Threading could be clearer. Less data would need to be loaded on each page load. I can imagine that a lightweight SPA to handle the a few standard views (e.g. listItems, itemDetails, profile, changePassword, submit) would cut down data transfer by a significant margin (20-30%, maybe more). The UI could also be much better on mobile, and we could give users the option to cache certain pieces of content offline.
- runawaybottle 6y ago
  What you’re suggesting is heresy on HN. It’s true, a little bit of interactivity, fonts/padding/spacing would improve HN. To this day my thumb covers both the upvote and down vote button.
  - osrec 6y ago
    Yes, the UX on mobile leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion. The two things that are going for HN in its current form is the fact that it's lightweight and fast. A lot of people think that moving to an SPA would mean killing both those aspects. But the truth is, you CAN have an SPA that is both lightweight and fast - the developer just needs to know what they're doing.
    - timw4mail 6y ago
      I have yet to see this...
      - runawaybottle 6y ago
        You can check out nodebb for example, tons of JavaScript and quite frankly it’s a better forum experience than reddit or HN: https://community.nodebb.org/category/2/general-discussion https://community.nodebb.org/category/2/general-discussion
- ptx 6y ago
  Offline use already works great, unlike in any SPA I've ever used. 1) Load the page. 2) The page is now fully loaded and ready for reading without any need for further network requests. For even more offline use, try printing it! HN threads work superbly when printed, again unlike most modern sites.