3 ms·

Honest question: what is "headless" in this context? Aren't all web back-ends headless?

• FanaHOVA 4y ago
  MVC frameworks like Django, Rails, etc, are not headless by default, as they take care of all frontend rendering. Headless = frontend and backend are fully separated; the "promise" was to have the backend be used on multiple projects. You would have a headless backend, then a web frontend project, an iOS one, an Android one, etc without having to rewrite any backend code.
  • intrasight 4y ago
    So "headless" = " Web API"
• cnj 4y ago
  I think your criticism of the term is somewhat valid, in the end these are just back-ends with APIs :) However, the point the platforms are trying to make is that their APIs have been written with the explicit purpose of building a frontend ontop of them later on. A lot of the old-school platforms have some APIs as well, but they are meant to e.g. import products or export orders. They are not meant to implement a frontend on top of, because they have a frontend engine as part of their monolith, and many functions you need to write a proper frontend will not be available through their APIs. So the term "headless" means "we have APIs, and they are designed for you to build a frontend on top of".
  • lagrange77 4y ago
    Well said!
  • intrasight 4y ago
    Thank you. The only usage of that term that I was familiar with was that given here: https://www.howtogeek.com/660841/what-is-a-headless-server/ https://www.howtogeek.com/660841/what-is-a-headless-server/ A “headless” computer system is just one without a local interface. There’s no monitor (“head”) plugged into it. There’s also no keyboard, mouse, touchscreen, or other local interface for controlling it.