>heavyweight frameworks for client and server will inevitably mean that they fight for control of your application This is completely true, and I've found thin

>heavyweight frameworks for client and server will inevitably mean that they fight for control of your application This is completely true, and I've found things to go best if I do one of two things: 1) Do a server side (template driven) app, using a server framework like Flask, ExpressJS, or else just Golang, with very light Javascript on the client, maybe using JQuery and Bootstrap for Javascript or else just pure Javascript. Minimal progressive enhancement. 2) Do a client-side app using a client framework like AngularJS or Backbone, or ReactJS, and build out a RESTful backend on the server side (or use Firebase or Parse.com). I even do authentication logic on the client now, since it's possible to do so securely. Not possible to use without Javascript. In between these two extremes is a no man's land, particularly if you use big client and server frameworks (as you say pointed out). In my experience, such an approach can make it extremely difficult to build a coherent app structure.