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I don't understand the fuss about SSR, wasn't that default way of doing websites 10+ years ago, before AJAX? E.g. Apache Struts has all of that Router logic sin

I don't understand the fuss about SSR, wasn't that default way of doing websites 10+ years ago, before AJAX? E.g. Apache Struts has all of that Router logic since like 15 years ago, completely server-side.

meotimdihia 4y ago
SSR solves the problem: "the content does not render before your browser download JS."
- deepsun 4y ago
  Sorry what JS? With aforementioned Apache Struts there's no need for JS to render anything. But if one wishes, JS can be added, of course (e.g. for DHTML stuff). To avoid render blocking there are "defer" and "async" attributes.
  - noisem4ker 4y ago
    To clarify: it's a CSR problem to solve, not Struts' (which, as you say, is not subject to). To answer your original question in a pragmatic way: people used to JS tooling, libraries, frameworks obviously want to continue using these, not revert to Struts. Plus, modern tooling facilitates mixing SSR and CSR, and switching between them as needed.
  - meotimdihia 4y ago
    I have 8 years of PHP experience. Let me explain to you. While you can build a static website with Apache Struts or PHP, you must add javascript if you want to build complex sites anyway, for example: Facebook, Twitter, Tiktok,... In the past, everyone used jQuery, but jQuery and ajax can't build complex sites. You will end up with too many Ajax + dynamic elements + bad practices and can't maintain them if you use jQuery. Finally, you'll end up using React for easy to maintain. And you'll have to wait to load React + related packages => it is slow for initial render => and SSR solved the problem. Also, you just need a single team to build a complex application while using React instead of backend + frontend as traditionally.
    - psnehanshu 4y ago
      +1 for this. There are a lot of uninformed detached-from-reality people lying around here that think Next.js and friends are just reinventing PHP. I will reply them with the link to this comment.

meotimdihia 4y ago

SSR solves the problem: "the content does not render before your browser download JS."

deepsun 4y ago
Sorry what JS? With aforementioned Apache Struts there's no need for JS to render anything. But if one wishes, JS can be added, of course (e.g. for DHTML stuff). To avoid render blocking there are "defer" and "async" attributes.
- noisem4ker 4y ago
  To clarify: it's a CSR problem to solve, not Struts' (which, as you say, is not subject to). To answer your original question in a pragmatic way: people used to JS tooling, libraries, frameworks obviously want to continue using these, not revert to Struts. Plus, modern tooling facilitates mixing SSR and CSR, and switching between them as needed.
- meotimdihia 4y ago
  I have 8 years of PHP experience. Let me explain to you. While you can build a static website with Apache Struts or PHP, you must add javascript if you want to build complex sites anyway, for example: Facebook, Twitter, Tiktok,... In the past, everyone used jQuery, but jQuery and ajax can't build complex sites. You will end up with too many Ajax + dynamic elements + bad practices and can't maintain them if you use jQuery. Finally, you'll end up using React for easy to maintain. And you'll have to wait to load React + related packages => it is slow for initial render => and SSR solved the problem. Also, you just need a single team to build a complex application while using React instead of backend + frontend as traditionally.
  - psnehanshu 4y ago
    +1 for this. There are a lot of uninformed detached-from-reality people lying around here that think Next.js and friends are just reinventing PHP. I will reply them with the link to this comment.