The joy came flooding back to me! It turns out browser APIs are really good now.
SPAs were a clever solution to a temporary limitation. But that limitation no longer exists.
Use modern server rendering. Use actual pages. Animate with CSS. Preload with intent. Ship less JavaScript.
This is a really thoughtful look at the evolution of CSS and the ever-present need to balance power with learnability.
Grrr…
Chrome, Edge and Firefox updates usually reach 95% of users within three months. But Safari updates are tied to a new release of the underlying operating system, so they take around 19 months to reach the same usage, and some updates may even need a new device.
This is so shameful. And glad as I am to see new features landing in Safari, as long as they hobble updates like this it’s all just pissing in the wind.
It seems like the misguided perception of needing to use complex tools and frameworks to build a website comes from a thinking that web browsers are inherently limited. When, in fact, browsers have evolved to a tremendous degree
A great talk by Matthias on what you can do with web standards today!
Technically, websites can do just about anything that native apps can do. And yet the actual experience of using the web on mobile is worse than ever.
A redesign with modern CSS.
A genuinely inspiring event.
Here’s Clearleft’s approach to browser support. You can use it too (it’s CC-licensed).
Browser are user agents, not developer agents.