7 ms·

Really interesting post for sure. I'm not really seeing the size advantage here. All of the mentioned frameworks are cached on popular CDN's and I just don't t

Really interesting post for sure. I'm not really seeing the size advantage here. All of the mentioned frameworks are cached on popular CDN's and I just don't think you're really getting much of a win out of creating your own, smaller files. Also, I'm always wary of companies that want to re-invent the wheel as opposed to using open-sourced, well-documented projects. If I start at your company and you use Backbone, not only is there a good chance I can come in with a good understanding of your code -- but I can easily check on Google for any questions I have. If I start at a company that has built their own, closed-source, custom JS framework -- I'll have to ask internally every time I have trouble figuring something out. It may be necessary for your product, but to me it always raises a flag when people create their own proprietary version of something that already has been done. Anyway, a great read for sure!

pauljonas 13y ago
It's not just the download size and CDN utility in caching JS on the client side for reuse -- on older machines or devices with less than shiny new execute power, all that code make for a sluggish UX experience. Maybe not in seconds, but even a hundred milliseconds can make for a huge difference, even if it's not readily apparent.
- jon_kuperman 13y ago
  If the code is already cached on the device, which I'm assuming it is in most cases. What is it that is slowing down the UX experience?
  - userbinator 13y ago
    Cached doesn't mean free. Every byte of JS still has to get parsed even if it won't ever be used. I really like how this demoscene-like mentality of being efficient with our computing power by only applying the minimal, needed complexity has started to get a more mainstream following. The traditional approach of piling on more complexity in the form of abstractions and other things is simply not sustainable. "The fastest way to do something is to not do it at all."
super-serial 13y ago
I think the author is getting flak for having his own "framework" while writing an article about being frameworkless. But the "framework" riot.js has just one important function called "observable." It's 60 lines of code that sets up an event system. I have a similar custom event system in my projects and I do not use frameworks. It's not something people will need to Google or ask their coworkers much about. Backbone on the other hand... anyone unfamiliar with it will need to spend a significant amount of time learning it.

pauljonas 13y ago

It's not just the download size and CDN utility in caching JS on the client side for reuse -- on older machines or devices with less than shiny new execute power, all that code make for a sluggish UX experience. Maybe not in seconds, but even a hundred milliseconds can make for a huge difference, even if it's not readily apparent.

jon_kuperman 13y ago
If the code is already cached on the device, which I'm assuming it is in most cases. What is it that is slowing down the UX experience?
- userbinator 13y ago
  Cached doesn't mean free. Every byte of JS still has to get parsed even if it won't ever be used. I really like how this demoscene-like mentality of being efficient with our computing power by only applying the minimal, needed complexity has started to get a more mainstream following. The traditional approach of piling on more complexity in the form of abstractions and other things is simply not sustainable. "The fastest way to do something is to not do it at all."

super-serial 13y ago

I think the author is getting flak for having his own "framework" while writing an article about being frameworkless. But the "framework" riot.js has just one important function called "observable." It's 60 lines of code that sets up an event system. I have a similar custom event system in my projects and I do not use frameworks. It's not something people will need to Google or ask their coworkers much about. Backbone on the other hand... anyone unfamiliar with it will need to spend a significant amount of time learning it.