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Linking is the foundation of the Web. The fact that you can no longer build a website without subverting even the most basic of browser functions via custom cod

by romaniv 14y ago

Linking is the foundation of the Web. The fact that you can no longer build a website without subverting even the most basic of browser functions via custom code is a sign that something somewhere is broken. The sad part is that a lot of web developers cannot even imagine a different architecture that wouldn't have these problems. The discussions are mostly about more of the same. More permissions. More low-level APIs.

jarrett 14y ago
While linking is the foundation of the web, I would say that the web has grown far beyond its foundations. Nowadays, web technologies are not just a way to share a set of linked documents. They're a platform for app development. The browser is starting to resemble a miniature operating system. Thus the demands for "more permissions, more low-level APIs." You may feel philosophically that this is the wrong direction for the web, but many folks (myself included) are excited about it.
- deleted 14y ago
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- romaniv 14y ago
  You haven't posted any information I wasn't aware beforehand. Yes, things change, the way we use the web changes too. That's exactly the problem. Instead of just "going beyond" foundation, it would be much more sensible approach to expand it, i.e. change what's possible with core HTML/HTTP.
chii 14y ago
> Linking is the foundation of the Web. The fact that you can no longer build a website without subverting even the most basic of browser functions ... i don't believe that's a fair assessment. A bit of javascript that "subverts" the href of an anchor tag to perform some _other_ task other than loading the page at that href, is functionally indistinguishable from having that same task performed _after_ the said href page is loaded. Sure, the technical side of this is indeed very different. One is an ajax call plus some DOM manipulation. The other is loading a different page, in an entirely different execution context. But to an end user, a link is something that you click on, and somethign happens. What happens is also quite predictable (provided the site/web app is designed with usability in mind). I dont think somethign is fundamentally broken at all.

by romaniv 14y ago

jarrett 14y ago

While linking is the foundation of the web, I would say that the web has grown far beyond its foundations. Nowadays, web technologies are not just a way to share a set of linked documents. They're a platform for app development. The browser is starting to resemble a miniature operating system. Thus the demands for "more permissions, more low-level APIs." You may feel philosophically that this is the wrong direction for the web, but many folks (myself included) are excited about it.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
romaniv 14y ago
You haven't posted any information I wasn't aware beforehand. Yes, things change, the way we use the web changes too. That's exactly the problem. Instead of just "going beyond" foundation, it would be much more sensible approach to expand it, i.e. change what's possible with core HTML/HTTP.

chii 14y ago

> Linking is the foundation of the Web. The fact that you can no longer build a website without subverting even the most basic of browser functions ... i don't believe that's a fair assessment. A bit of javascript that "subverts" the href of an anchor tag to perform some _other_ task other than loading the page at that href, is functionally indistinguishable from having that same task performed _after_ the said href page is loaded. Sure, the technical side of this is indeed very different. One is an ajax call plus some DOM manipulation. The other is loading a different page, in an entirely different execution context. But to an end user, a link is something that you click on, and somethign happens. What happens is also quite predictable (provided the site/web app is designed with usability in mind). I dont think somethign is fundamentally broken at all.