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WordPress relies on server-generated HTML and its admin interface is a fairly complex "app", especially once you factor in the plugin ecosystem. According to [1

WordPress relies on server-generated HTML and its admin interface is a fairly complex "app", especially once you factor in the plugin ecosystem. According to [1], it's used on 43.7% of all public websites. [1] https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cm-wordpress https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cm-wordpress

quantadev 2y ago
If every user input causes a page refresh, that's not an "app" that's a "website". If you don't have any executable code (i.e. Javascript), but just form submits, yeah I agree that's what most of the web is, and as you pointed out most of the web is websites not web apps.
- simonw 2y ago
  Have you explored cross-document view transitions? Would you classify something that uses those as an app or a site? https://developer.chrome.com/docs/web-platform/view-transitions#cross-document_view_transitions https://developer.chrome.com/docs/web-platform/view-transiti...
  - threatofrain 2y ago
    That's actually rather new so we shall see how frontend practice reacts. I've only seen a few instances of it out in the wild so far.
  - quantadev 2y ago
    I'm not saying my own definition of "app" is the only correct definition, but in my opinion only if I do a click and something on the SAME page changes, then it's an app. Transitioning to different pages isn't an app, imo.
    - simonw 2y ago
      With this browser feature a navigation to a new page can look like only part of the page changes - without needing any JavaScript.
      - quantadev 2y ago
        > can look like Yeah, but it ain't. lol.
        thunky 2y ago
        It's easy for developers to forget who the "app" is actually for. Users don't care how it was implemented or how nice the code looks, they just want it to work.
        quantadev 2y ago
        Right. That's precisely why full page reloads/updates every time some action is done (mouse click for example) would be completely unacceptable for most apps I've worked on. I've worked mostly on apps not websites.
        BeefWellington 2y ago
        The overwhelming majority of default HTML actions (no JS) that happen from a mouse click do not trigger a page load. You're trying to make it sound like selecting an item from a dropdown or selecting a textbox to enter text will cause a complete page load every time unless you use an SPA framework and that's just literally completely untrue. By your measure though, it sounds as though you'd be fine if these page loads in the javascriptless world were done in iframes, since then only some portion of the site is being reloaded? I'm using that to illustrate the argument is absurd and the basis on which it is made seems also absurd. SPAs are heavy and frequently written poorly, often eschewing the principles of loading only the bare minimum for a kitchen-sink approach. If you view the web as having only those two options to accomplish "real work" then yeah, you're gonna thing that SPAs are the only way. It's not reality though.
hysan 2y ago
It’s been a while since I worked with WordPress, but isn’t their Gutenberg editor (which is the heart of their CMS) built on React? So while React may not be used on the user facing side, it is still powering the content side of WordPress and in a way, powering all of those sites.

quantadev 2y ago

If every user input causes a page refresh, that's not an "app" that's a "website". If you don't have any executable code (i.e. Javascript), but just form submits, yeah I agree that's what most of the web is, and as you pointed out most of the web is websites not web apps.

simonw 2y ago
Have you explored cross-document view transitions? Would you classify something that uses those as an app or a site? https://developer.chrome.com/docs/web-platform/view-transitions#cross-document_view_transitions https://developer.chrome.com/docs/web-platform/view-transiti...
- threatofrain 2y ago
  That's actually rather new so we shall see how frontend practice reacts. I've only seen a few instances of it out in the wild so far.
- quantadev 2y ago
  I'm not saying my own definition of "app" is the only correct definition, but in my opinion only if I do a click and something on the SAME page changes, then it's an app. Transitioning to different pages isn't an app, imo.
  - simonw 2y ago
    With this browser feature a navigation to a new page can look like only part of the page changes - without needing any JavaScript.
    - quantadev 2y ago
      > can look like Yeah, but it ain't. lol.
      - thunky 2y ago
        It's easy for developers to forget who the "app" is actually for. Users don't care how it was implemented or how nice the code looks, they just want it to work.
        quantadev 2y ago
        Right. That's precisely why full page reloads/updates every time some action is done (mouse click for example) would be completely unacceptable for most apps I've worked on. I've worked mostly on apps not websites.
        BeefWellington 2y ago
        The overwhelming majority of default HTML actions (no JS) that happen from a mouse click do not trigger a page load. You're trying to make it sound like selecting an item from a dropdown or selecting a textbox to enter text will cause a complete page load every time unless you use an SPA framework and that's just literally completely untrue. By your measure though, it sounds as though you'd be fine if these page loads in the javascriptless world were done in iframes, since then only some portion of the site is being reloaded? I'm using that to illustrate the argument is absurd and the basis on which it is made seems also absurd. SPAs are heavy and frequently written poorly, often eschewing the principles of loading only the bare minimum for a kitchen-sink approach. If you view the web as having only those two options to accomplish "real work" then yeah, you're gonna thing that SPAs are the only way. It's not reality though.

hysan 2y ago

It’s been a while since I worked with WordPress, but isn’t their Gutenberg editor (which is the heart of their CMS) built on React? So while React may not be used on the user facing side, it is still powering the content side of WordPress and in a way, powering all of those sites.