Tom StuartSep 29, 2024
I’m happy to see that the GOV.UK Service Manual’s “Building a robust frontend using progressive enhancement” page was updated this week and made it to the top of Hacker News today. The technology industry would collectively save unimaginable quantities of time, money, energy and stress if this single page were required reading for everyone involved in building a web site. https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/technology/using-progressive-enhancement
Building a robust frontend using progressive enhancement

How to build web pages so they work in HTML first: starting with HTML, extra styles and features, using JavaScript.

GOV.UK
Show threadMarina AísaSep 29, 2024

@tom I think you know my opinion on this topic and I totally agree with the article in general. It's great that this topic is being brought back to the table.

On the other hand I don't totally agree with "SPA rarely brings benefits", it really depends on the product's needs. For example, a web product that requires constant reactivity makes sense as a SPA. Reactivity is still very difficult to implement without a JS framework. Does this mean that all websites require it? Of course not.

Show threadTom StuartSep 29, 2024
@marinaaisa What kind of reactivity, though? Single-page applications make sense for “web sites” that are basically native apps running in a browser — it’s pretty much impossible to build a web-based photo editor, say, without making it a SPA — but those situations are the rare exception. The vast majority of applications can work perfectly well within the thin-client model of an HTML UI that sends HTTP requests, but instead the industry default is to build every single site like it’s Photoshop.
Show threadMarina AísaSep 29, 2024

I agree. There aren't many use cases for SPAs. So why has the frontend industry embraced the complexity of SPAs for all kinds of web products?

Throughout my career, I've seen many colleagues dismiss HTML and CSS simply because they don’t seem "complex enough."
Not only that, these languages have been increasingly feminized in recent years.

Show threadMarina AísaSep 29, 2024

Part of this is because many women entering the tech industry come from UI/UX design backgrounds and transition to frontend dev by learning HTML & CSS. Due to misogyny, as more women enter a field, it tends to be perceived as less challenging, leading to lower salaries. By adding complexity through JavaScript, higher salaries become justifiable.

As a result, we now have many frontend developers who lack the skills to write quality, accessible HTML & CSS because these languages are undervalued.

Show threaddevolute
@marinaaisa Five years ago I'd have scoffed at this take. Probably publicly. But now I just think it sounds incredibly reasonable.
Nov 17, 2024 at 11:08pmMoshidon