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Single page apps seem like a hack to make browser apps feel like they are closer to native apps. Because most SPAs have a set flow, it seems like we should be

Single page apps seem like a hack to make browser apps feel like they are closer to native apps. Because most SPAs have a set flow, it seems like we should be able to use prefetching to tell the browser what is most likely to happen next. For example, if you are on a list, then you can tell the browser to prefetch the details. <link rel="next" href="details.html"> What I feel like is missing from this equation is a nice transition between pages. How nice would it be to have something like this: <a href="details.html" transition="slide-left">Details</a> If the browser prefetched the details and handled the transition, I would see no need for an SPA. We would get the benefits without having to implement a hack.

Touche 12y ago
So if you have a list of 100 links you are going to prefetch all 100?
- madoublet 12y ago
  No, that is not really the use of prefetch. It is for more predictable flows.
e12e 12y ago
And today you can use that markup and shim the transition you want with js - and still gracefully downgrade.
- toxican 12y ago
  But wouldn't having it in the HTML mean you don't need the js? And then it wouldn't need to downgrade in modern browsers at all.
  - e12e 12y ago
    If you want to change the HTML spec and have something happen, you'd have to upgrade the browsers before anything happens... rel-links do work today, but transitions don't automatically work, and UI/UX (using the "forward"-arrow to go to "next" etc) is inconsistent or non-existent. But you can write some js to make them all work. And your HTML can be semantic and nice, and you can still get advanced features.
WickyNilliams 12y ago
I couldn't tell from your post, so just in case you weren't aware, browsers do support prefetching documents via link tags: http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/links.html#link-type-prefetch http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/links.html#link-type-prefetch
svieira 12y ago
Chuckles IE used to support this with something called Inter-Page Transitions [1] - every time I saw it it made me double-take. <META http-equiv="Page-Exit" CONTENT="progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Slide(Duration=2.500,slidestyle='HIDE')" /> That said, I wouldn't go down that road again. Better pre-fetching hints are good and HTML is a good place for a fallback (HTTP 2.0 provides better ways of doing it if you have control of the server), but page transitions are something better left to CSS, to my mind. [1]: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms532847%28v=vs.85%29.aspx#Interpage_Transition https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms532847%28v=vs.85%...

Touche 12y ago

So if you have a list of 100 links you are going to prefetch all 100?

madoublet 12y ago
No, that is not really the use of prefetch. It is for more predictable flows.

e12e 12y ago

And today you can use that markup and shim the transition you want with js - and still gracefully downgrade.

toxican 12y ago
But wouldn't having it in the HTML mean you don't need the js? And then it wouldn't need to downgrade in modern browsers at all.
- e12e 12y ago
  If you want to change the HTML spec and have something happen, you'd have to upgrade the browsers before anything happens... rel-links do work today, but transitions don't automatically work, and UI/UX (using the "forward"-arrow to go to "next" etc) is inconsistent or non-existent. But you can write some js to make them all work. And your HTML can be semantic and nice, and you can still get advanced features.

WickyNilliams 12y ago

I couldn't tell from your post, so just in case you weren't aware, browsers do support prefetching documents via link tags: http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/links.html#link-type-prefetch http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/links.html#link-type-prefetch

svieira 12y ago

Chuckles IE used to support this with something called Inter-Page Transitions [1] - every time I saw it it made me double-take. <META http-equiv="Page-Exit" CONTENT="progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Slide(Duration=2.500,slidestyle='HIDE')" /> That said, I wouldn't go down that road again. Better pre-fetching hints are good and HTML is a good place for a fallback (HTTP 2.0 provides better ways of doing it if you have control of the server), but page transitions are something better left to CSS, to my mind. [1]: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms532847%28v=vs.85%29.aspx#Interpage_Transition https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms532847%28v=vs.85%...