3 ms·

If Figma runs perfectly well in a web browser, Reddit can do the same. It was built for and evolved almost entirely within the browser, like many other Internet

If Figma runs perfectly well in a web browser, Reddit can do the same. It was built for and evolved almost entirely within the browser, like many other Internet forums. Pure data grab.

zxexz 1y ago
Reddit runs well IMO if you go to old.reddit.com. The mobile site is borderline useless, presumably intentionally.
- troupo 1y ago
  According to Reddit's "Staff Platform Engineer (Web Platform Team)": --- start quote --- Old Reddit has the advantage of being pretty much static non-interactive content. No video, tiny thumbnails, and barely any JS or styling. Some people like this and some don't, but the end result is a very lean website that performs well out of the box. https://x.com/jimsimon_/status/1841087335414280571 https://x.com/jimsimon_/status/1841087335414280571 Suffice to say, I'm on the frontend perf team and we're acutely aware of these problems https://x.com/jimsimon_/status/1841092341991403974 https://x.com/jimsimon_/status/1841092341991403974 --- end quote --- This was in October 2024. Which is of course a bunch of bullshit when you consider that Reddit's backend returns most data in under 400ms, and it takes Reddit frontend 3+ seconds to render it It could be that they are just incompetent.
  - cellularmitosis 1y ago
    Based on how universally horrible their video playback performance is (even in the iOS app), I can only assume incompetence.
TeMPOraL 1y ago
Figma is sort of an Apollo Project among webshit, isn't it? IIRC they did rather extreme amount of R&D to make the webapp performant in spite of the web as a platform. Great that they did, and I hope their insights will keep trickling down to everyone else - but I don't think they're currently an example anyone can actually follow.
- DrewADesign 1y ago
  It’s great, but it’s not Apollo-level anything. Most games are far more interactively and visually complex. Apples to oranges with UX and interaction problems to solve, but certainly not depth and complexity. I’ve certainly experienced bugs in Reddit’s interface before — there seems to be this idea that they have to be so risk averse that they can’t do anything significant— I’ll bet you a pizza that their official app which implements all the features that people really want to use is made with JS/HTML on the back end anyway.
akoboldfrying 1y ago
Figma shows what it is possible to do in a browser, but the cost of doing so is basically prohibitive. The level of persistence and technical nous needed to stand it up are on par with getting a first-person shooter running at an interactive frame rate on a 286 -- they basically reimplemented a browser within the browser.
- DrewADesign 1y ago
  I’ve worked on teams that made complex production web apps with a tiny tiny fraction of Reddit’s cash flow.

If Figma runs perfectly well in a web browser, Reddit can do the same. It was built for and evolved almost entirely within the browser, like many other Internet forums. Pure data grab.

zxexz 1y ago

Reddit runs well IMO if you go to old.reddit.com. The mobile site is borderline useless, presumably intentionally.

troupo 1y ago
According to Reddit's "Staff Platform Engineer (Web Platform Team)": --- start quote --- Old Reddit has the advantage of being pretty much static non-interactive content. No video, tiny thumbnails, and barely any JS or styling. Some people like this and some don't, but the end result is a very lean website that performs well out of the box. https://x.com/jimsimon_/status/1841087335414280571 https://x.com/jimsimon_/status/1841087335414280571 Suffice to say, I'm on the frontend perf team and we're acutely aware of these problems https://x.com/jimsimon_/status/1841092341991403974 https://x.com/jimsimon_/status/1841092341991403974 --- end quote --- This was in October 2024. Which is of course a bunch of bullshit when you consider that Reddit's backend returns most data in under 400ms, and it takes Reddit frontend 3+ seconds to render it It could be that they are just incompetent.
- cellularmitosis 1y ago
  Based on how universally horrible their video playback performance is (even in the iOS app), I can only assume incompetence.

TeMPOraL 1y ago

Figma is sort of an Apollo Project among webshit, isn't it? IIRC they did rather extreme amount of R&D to make the webapp performant in spite of the web as a platform. Great that they did, and I hope their insights will keep trickling down to everyone else - but I don't think they're currently an example anyone can actually follow.

DrewADesign 1y ago
It’s great, but it’s not Apollo-level anything. Most games are far more interactively and visually complex. Apples to oranges with UX and interaction problems to solve, but certainly not depth and complexity. I’ve certainly experienced bugs in Reddit’s interface before — there seems to be this idea that they have to be so risk averse that they can’t do anything significant— I’ll bet you a pizza that their official app which implements all the features that people really want to use is made with JS/HTML on the back end anyway.

akoboldfrying 1y ago

Figma shows what it is possible to do in a browser, but the cost of doing so is basically prohibitive. The level of persistence and technical nous needed to stand it up are on par with getting a first-person shooter running at an interactive frame rate on a 286 -- they basically reimplemented a browser within the browser.

DrewADesign 1y ago
I’ve worked on teams that made complex production web apps with a tiny tiny fraction of Reddit’s cash flow.