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> More generally, I think WASM is starting to challenge the whole "there can only be DOM/CSS/JS" thing that has held web developers back for two decades. No on

> More generally, I think WASM is starting to challenge the whole "there can only be DOM/CSS/JS" thing that has held web developers back for two decades. No one was held back, people keep choosing the web because it's consistently better. What I think is crazy is this drive to take something that is working great (the Web), and then jam in an approach that has already failed multiple times. We already tried several iterations of binary-heavy, non-transparent, non-searchable, non-web-native, second-ecosystem application platforms including Java Applets, Flash, Silverlight, etc. They had a chance and users rejected them. If you think the web sucks, then by all means, I encourage you to make a compelling alternative. If it really is better then people will use it. But maybe don't try to spoil the working recipe of HTML/CSS/JS, especially if you don't fully understand the reasons why it keeps winning.

anononaut 3y ago
I think this is a strong argument for the need for something like Applets, Flash, and Silverlight to be an open standard. I appreciate the argument you make, but I think the simple counter argument is the ability for the framework to be modified at the developers' collective whim rather than corporate concerns.
troupo 3y ago
> No one was held back, people keep choosing the web because it's consistently better. It's not consistently better. It's just marginally easier to develop simple things for. > They had a chance and users rejected them. Users rejected them because they were slow, bloated, and didn't play nice with a lot of things. Fast-forward to 2023, and users have embraced mobile apps (and not mobile web/PWA crap that we're told is about to get just as good as apps any time now). > If you think the web sucks, then by all means, I encourage you to make a compelling alternative. It's already there. It's called apps.

anononaut 3y ago

I think this is a strong argument for the need for something like Applets, Flash, and Silverlight to be an open standard. I appreciate the argument you make, but I think the simple counter argument is the ability for the framework to be modified at the developers' collective whim rather than corporate concerns.

troupo 3y ago

> No one was held back, people keep choosing the web because it's consistently better. It's not consistently better. It's just marginally easier to develop simple things for. > They had a chance and users rejected them. Users rejected them because they were slow, bloated, and didn't play nice with a lot of things. Fast-forward to 2023, and users have embraced mobile apps (and not mobile web/PWA crap that we're told is about to get just as good as apps any time now). > If you think the web sucks, then by all means, I encourage you to make a compelling alternative. It's already there. It's called apps.