Software can be finished - Ross Wintle
There’s quite a crossover between resilience and longevity:
- Understand the requirements
- Keep scope small and fixed
- Reduce dependencies
- Produce static output
- Increase Quality Assurance
The Illusion of Control in Web Design · An A List Apart Article
Aaron gives a timely run-down of all the parts of a web experience that are out of our control. But don’t despair…
Recognizing all of the ways our carefully-crafted experiences can be rendered unusable can be more than a little disheartening. No one likes to spend their time thinking about failure. So don’t. Don’t focus on all of the bad things you can’t control. Focus on what you can control.
Start simply. Code defensively. User-test the heck out of it. Recognize the chaos. Embrace it. And build resilient web experiences that will work no matter what the internet throws at them.
Related links
Moving on from React, a Year Later
Many interactions are not possible without JavaScript, but that doesn’t mean we should look to write more than we have to. The server doing something useful is a requirement for building an interesting business. The client doing something is often a nice-to-have.
There’s also this:
It’s really fast
One of the arguments for a SPA is that it provides a more reactive customer experience. I think that’s mostly debunked at this point, due to the performance creep and complexity that comes in with a more complicated client-server relationship.
Web Components Will Outlive Your JavaScript Framework | jakelazaroff.com
There’s a cost to using dependencies. New versions are released, APIs change, and it takes time and effort to make sure your own code remains compatible with them. And the cost accumulates over time.
This post is about more than web components:
If we want our work to be accessible in five or ten or even 20 years, we need to use the web with no layers in between. For all its warts, the web has become the most resilient, portable, future-proof computing platform we’ve ever created — at least, if we build with that in mind.
Using Stencil to make a live poll Web Component
Before getting into the details of the code, Matt hits the nail on the head talking about the the one thing that web components have that no framework can offer: longevity.
Quoting Stuart Brand:
Old systems break in familiar ways. New systems break in unexpected ways.
Well! The web is an old system.
Simon Collison | Building with a lightness of touch
If, like me, you despair at the tech stacking and JavaScriptification of everything, shut that out and pay attention to those who understand the material of the web, its inherent resilience and efficiency. We’re lucky that principled voices still advocate for simple and inclusive methods because building with efficiency and a lightness of touch makes the work feel meaningful and, sometimes, fun.
Related posts
When should there be a declarative version of a JavaScript API?
If the JavaScript API requires a user gesture, maybe it’s time for a new button type.
Continuous partial browser support
Treat every browser feature like an experimental feature.
The reason for a share button type
It’s not because it’s declarative—it’s because it’s robust.
Installing web apps
Here’s an HTML web component you can use if you’re participating in the origin trial for the Web Install API.
Simplify
Reminding myself just how much you can do with CSS these days.