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I think the portability of web technologies make them super appealing to new developers, which is what I think the appeal of languages like Java were a decade (

I think the portability of web technologies make them super appealing to new developers, which is what I think the appeal of languages like Java were a decade (or more!) ago. I think web tech has all of those advantages plus the ability to get started so much more quickly (it takes so little effort to get a simple website online). I started writing some Swift recently and built a small app, and it kinda shocked me how simple it can be to get such great interface performance from so little code. I kinda wonder if there's some sort of middle ground, like web assembly with a more standardized starting point, base language, and set of UI components.

taeric 6y ago
Portability is a shrine that so much has been sacrificed on. In rather interesting ways. Pretty much, inarguably, Linux is the most per code there is. And it is done using what are easily accepted as not portable practices. But it is not a gui, is the common refrain. To which I offer Scummvm. But it isn't a business application? True, but I find it baffling that the ui afforded for those games is somehow easier than the ui most applications need. I think the only other shrine that has killed more with nothing to show for it, is "easy to reason about threads." Of any sort. So much is done so a program can scale to absurd use cases, that they stall and get nothing done.
rimliu 6y ago
I shake my head in disbelief every time I read someone touting web tech as the best way to make mobile apps and how more productive it is. It is obvious that that person has absolutely no idea what native APIs offer.
- fauigerzigerk 6y ago
  Maybe that's because you're thinking of apps that actually benefit from native APIs. There are other types of apps that are mostly interfaces to remote data primarily generated by other people. The only native capability that many apps need is push notifications (something like a banking app for instance). And that's basically a random restriction imposed by Apple to protect their business interests.

taeric 6y ago

Portability is a shrine that so much has been sacrificed on. In rather interesting ways. Pretty much, inarguably, Linux is the most per code there is. And it is done using what are easily accepted as not portable practices. But it is not a gui, is the common refrain. To which I offer Scummvm. But it isn't a business application? True, but I find it baffling that the ui afforded for those games is somehow easier than the ui most applications need. I think the only other shrine that has killed more with nothing to show for it, is "easy to reason about threads." Of any sort. So much is done so a program can scale to absurd use cases, that they stall and get nothing done.

rimliu 6y ago

I shake my head in disbelief every time I read someone touting web tech as the best way to make mobile apps and how more productive it is. It is obvious that that person has absolutely no idea what native APIs offer.

fauigerzigerk 6y ago
Maybe that's because you're thinking of apps that actually benefit from native APIs. There are other types of apps that are mostly interfaces to remote data primarily generated by other people. The only native capability that many apps need is push notifications (something like a banking app for instance). And that's basically a random restriction imposed by Apple to protect their business interests.