From 4abcce013c9ee3053badf2abda77190233066676 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Mitja Felicijan Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2024 10:35:22 +0100 Subject: Testing thoughts page --- ...10-06-state-of-web-technologies-in-year-2022.md | 297 +++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 297 insertions(+) create mode 100644 _posts/posts/2022-10-06-state-of-web-technologies-in-year-2022.md (limited to '_posts/posts/2022-10-06-state-of-web-technologies-in-year-2022.md') diff --git a/_posts/posts/2022-10-06-state-of-web-technologies-in-year-2022.md b/_posts/posts/2022-10-06-state-of-web-technologies-in-year-2022.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e7c8d62 --- /dev/null +++ b/_posts/posts/2022-10-06-state-of-web-technologies-in-year-2022.md @@ -0,0 +1,297 @@ +--- +title: State of Web Technologies and Web development in year 2022 +permalink: /state-of-web-technologies-and-web-development-in-year-2022.html +date: 2022-10-06T12:00:00+02:00 +layout: post +type: post +draft: false +--- + +## Initial thoughts + +*This post is a critique on the current state of web development. It is an +opinionated post! I will learn more about this in the future, and probably +slightly change my mind about some of the things I criticize.* + +I have started working on a hobby project about two weeks ago, and I wanted to +use that situation as a learning one. Trying new things, new technologies, new +tools. I always considered myself to be an adventurous person when it comes to +technology. I never shy away from trying new languages, new operating systems +etc. Likewise, I find the whole experience satisfying, and it tickles that part +of my brain that finds discovery the highest of the mountains to climb. + +What I always wanted to make was a coding game, that you would play in a browser +(just to eliminate building binaries for each operating system) where you would +level up your character and go into these scriptable battles. You know, RPG +elements. + +So, the natural way to go would be some sort of SPA (single page application) +with basic routing and some state management. Nothing crazy. + +> **Before we move on**, I have to be transparent. Take my views on this with +> a grain of salt. I have only scratched the surface with these technologies, +> and my knowledge is full of gaps. This is my experience using some of these +> products for the first time or in a limited capacity. + +Having this out of the way, I got myself a fresh pot of coffee and down the +rabbit hole I went. + +## Giving React JS a spin + +I first tried [React JS](https://reactjs.org/). I kind of like it. Furthermore, +I have worked with libraries like this in the past and also wrote a couple of +them (nothing compared to that level), but I had the basic understanding of what +was going on. I rolled up a project quickly and had basic things done in a +matter of two hours, which was impressive. + +I prefer using [Tailwind CSS](https://tailwindcss.com/) for my styling +pleasures, and integrating that was also a painless experience. It was actually +nice to see that some things got better with time. In about 2 minutes I got +Tailwind working, and I was able to use classes at my disposal. All that +`postcss` stuff was taken care of by adding a couple of things in config files +(all described really well in their documentation). + +It is not that different from Vue which I have had more encounters with in the +past People will probably call me a lunatic for saying this. But you know, it is +the truth. Same same, but different. I still believe that using libraries like +this is beneficial. I am not a JavaScript purist. They all have their quirks, +but at the end of the day, I truly believe it’s worth it. + +## Bundlers and Transpilers + +I still reject calling [Typescript](https://www.typescriptlang.org/) to +[JavaScript](https://www.javascript.com/) conversion a "compilation process". I +call them [transpilers](https://devopedia.org/transpiler), and I don’t care! 😈 + +The first one that I ever used was [webpack](https://webpack.js.org/), and it +was an absolute horrific experience. Saying this, it is an absolutely fantastic +tool. I felt more like a config editor than actually a programmer. To be fair, +I am a huge fan of [make](https://www.gnu.org/software/make/), and you can do as +you wish with this information. I like my build systems simple. + +Also, isn’t it interesting that we need something like +[Babel](https://babeljs.io/) to make JavaScript code work in a browser that has +only one client side scripting available, which is by no accident also +JavaScript. Why? I know why it’s needed, but seriously, why. + +I haven’t used Babel for years now. Or if I did, it was packaged together by +some other bundler thingy. Which does not make things better, but at least I +didn’t need to worry about it. + +I really don’t like complicated build systems. I really don’t like abstracting +code and making things appear magical. The older I get, the more I appreciate +clear and clean, expressive code. No one-liners, if possible. + +But I have to give props to [Vite](https://vitejs.dev/)! This was one of the +best developer experiences I have ever had. Granted, it still has magical +properties. And yes, it still is a bundler and abstracts things to the nth +degree. But at least it didn’t force me to configure 700 lines of JSON. And I +know that this makes me a hypocrite. You can’t have it all. Nonetheless, my +reasoning here is, if using bundlers is inevitable, then at least they should +provide an excellent developer experience. + +I also noticed that now the catch-all phrase is “blazingly fast” and “lightning +fast” and “next generation” and stuff like that. I mean, yeah, tools should get +faster with time. But saying that starting a project now takes 2 seconds instead +of 20 seconds is something that is a break it or make it kind of a deal is +ridiculous. I don’t mind waiting a couple of seconds every couple of days. I +also don’t create 700 projects every day, and also who does? This argument has +no bite. All I want is a decent reload time (~100ms is more than good enough for +me) and that is it. + +You don’t need to sell me benefits if I only get them when I start a fresh +project, and then try to convince me that this is somehow changing the fate of +the universe. First of all, it is not. And second, if this is your only argument +for your tool, I would advise you to maybe re-focus your efforts to something +else. Vite says that startup times are really fast. And if that would be the +only thing differentiating it from other tools, I would ignore it. But it has +some really compelling features like [Hot Module +Replacement](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/reactjs-hot-module-replacement/) that +really works well. It was a joy to use. + +So, I will be definitely using Vite in the future. + +## Jam Stack, Mach Stack no snack + +Let's get a couple of the acronyms out of the way, so we all know what we are +talking about: + +- Jam Stack - JavaScript, API and Markup +- Mach Stack - Microservices, API-first, Cloud-Native SaaS, Headless + +It is so hard to follow all these new trendy things happening around you, that +it makes you have a massive **FOMO** all the time. But on the other hand, you +also don’t want to be that old fart that doesn’t move with the times and still +writes his trusty jQuery code while listening to Blink 182 All the small things +on full blast. It’s a good song, don’t get me wrong, but there are other songs +out there. + +I have to admit. [Vercel](https://vercel.com/) is really cool! Love the +simplicity of the service. You could compare it to +[Netlify](https://www.netlify.com/). I haven’t tried Netlify extensively, but +from a couple of experimental deployments I still prefer Vercel. It is much more +streamlined, but maybe this is bias in me. I really like Vercel’s Analytics, +which give you a [Core Web Vitals report](https://web.dev/vitals/) in their +admin console. Kind of cool, I’m not going to lie. + +This whole idea about frontend and backend merging into [SSR (server-side +rendering)](https://www.debugbear.com/blog/server-side-rendering) looks so good +on paper. It almost doesn’t come with any major flaws. + +But when it comes to the actual implementation, there is much to be desired. +I’m going to lump [Next.js](https://nextjs.org/) and +[Nuxt.js](https://nuxtjs.org/) together because they are essentially the same +thing, just a different library. + +Now comes the reality. Mixing backend and frontend in this manner creates this +weird mental model where you kind of rely on magical properties of these +libraries. You relinquish control over to them for better developer experience. +But is that really true? Initially, I was so stoked about it. However, the more +I used them, the more I felt uncomfortable. I felt dirty, actually. Maybe this +is because I come from old ways of doing things where you control every step of +request, and allowing something to hijack it feels like blasphemy. + +More than that, some pretty significant technical issues arose from this. How do +you do JWT token authentication? You put it in `api` folder and then do some +fetching and storing into local state management. But doing this also requires +some tinkering with await/async stuff on the React/Vue side of things. And then +you need to write middleware for it. And the more I look at it, the more I see +that this whole thing was not meant to be used like this, and it all feels and +looks like a huge hack. + +The issue I have with this is that they over-promise and under-deliver. They +want to be an all-in-one replacement for everything, and they don’t deliver on +this promise. And how could they?! We have to be fair. It is an impossible task. + +They sell you [NoOps](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/overview-of-noops/), but +when you need to accomplish something a little bit more out of the scope of +Hello World, you have to make hacky decisions to make it work. And having a +deployment strategy that relies on many moving parts is never a good idea. +Abstracting too much is usually a sign of bad architecture. + +Lately, this has become a huge trend that will for sure bite us in the future. +And let’s not get it twisted. By doing this, PaaS providers like +[AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/), [GCS](https://cloud.google.com/), etc. obscure +their billing, and you end up paying more than you really should. And even if +that is not an issue, it comes down to the principle of things. AWS is known for +having multiple “currencies“ inside their projects like write operations, read +operations, etc. which add up, and it creates this impossible to track billing +scheme. It all behaves suspiciously like a pay-to-win game you could find on +mobile phones that scams you out of your money. + +And as far as I am concerned, the most important thing was me not coding the +functionalities for the game I want to make. I was battling libraries and cloud +providers. How to deploy, what settings are relevant. Bad documentation or +multiple versions of achieving the same thing. You are getting bombarded by all +this information, and you don’t really have any control over it. +Production-ready code becomes a joke, essentially. Especially if you tend to +work on that project for a prolonged period of time. + +All of these options end up creating a fatigue. What to choose, what not to +choose. Unnecessary worrying about if the stack will still be deemed worthy in +six months. There is elegance in simplicity. + +> JavaScript UI frameworks and libraries work in cycles. Every six months or +> so, a new one pops up, claiming that it has revolutionized UI development. +> Thousands of developers adopt it into their new projects, blog posts are +> written, Stack Overflow questions are asked and answered, and then a newer +> (and even more revolutionary) framework pops up to usurp the throne. +> — Ian Allen + +And this jab at these libraries and cloud providers is not done out of malice. +It is a real concern that I have about them. In my life, I have seen +technologies come and go, but the basics always stick around. So surrendering +all the power you have to a library or a cloud provider is in my opinion a +stupid move. + +## Tailwind CSS still rocks! + +You know, many people say negative things about Tailwind. And after a lot of +deliberation, I came to the conclusion that Tailwind is good for two types of +developers. Tailwind is good for a complete noob or a senior developer. A +complete noob doesn’t really care about inner workings of CSS, and a senior +developer also doesn’t care about CSS. Well, at least, not anymore. And +developers in between usually have the biggest issues with it. Not always of +course, but in a lot of cases. + +I like the creature comforts of Tailwind. Being utility first would make me +argue that it is actually more similar to [Sass](https://sass-lang.com/) or +[Less](https://lesscss.org/) than something like Bootstrap. Not technically, but +ideologically. After I started using it, I never looked back. I use it every +time I need to do something web related. + +Writing CSS for general things feels like going several steps back. Instead of +focusing on what you are actually trying to achieve, you focus on notations like +[BEM](https://en.bem.info/methodology/css/), code structuring, optimizing HTML +size. Just doing things that make 0.1% difference. You know that saying: Early +optimization is the root of all evil. Exactly that. + +I am also not saying that Tailwind is the cure for everything. Sometimes custom +CSS is necessary. But from what I found out in using it for almost two years in +a production environment (on a site getting quite a lot of traffic and +constantly being changed), I can say without any reservations that Tailwind +saved our asses countless times. We would be rewriting CSS all the time without +it. And I don’t really think writing CSS is the best way to spend my time. + +I have also noticed that people who criticize Tailwind the most never actually +used it in a real project that has a long lifetime with plenty of changes that +will happen in the future. + +But you know, whatever floats your boat! + +## Code maintainability + +Somehow, people also stopped talking about maintenance. If you constantly try to +catch the latest and greatest train, you are by that logic always trying new +things. Which is a good thing if you want to learn about technologies and try +them. But for the production environment, you have to have a stable stack that +doesn’t change every 6 months. + +You can lock dependencies for sure. Nevertheless, the hype train moves along +anyway. And the mindset this breeds goes against locking the code. This +bleeding-edge rolling release cycle is not helping. That is why enterprise +solutions usually look down on these popular stacks and only do bare minimum to +appear hip and cool. + +With that said, I still think that progress is good, but should be taken with a +grain of salt. If your project is something that should be built once and then +rarely updated, going with the latest stack is a possible way to go. But, if you +are working on a project that lasts for years, you should probably approach it +with some level of caution. Web development is often times too volatile. + +## Web development has a marketing issue + +I noticed that almost every project now has this marketing spin put on it. +Everything is blazingly fast now. I get it, they are competing for your +attention, but what happened to just being truthful and not inflating reality. + +And in order to appeal to mass market, they leave things out of their marketing +materials. These open-source projects are now behaving more and more like +companies do. Which is a scary thought on its self. + +And we are also seeing a rise in a concept of building a company in the open, +which is a good thing, don't get me wrong. But when it is using open-source to +lure people and then lock them in their ecosystem, there is where I have issues +with it. + +This might be because I have been using GNU/Linux for 20 years now and have been +so beholden for my success to open-source that I see issues when open-source is +being used to trick people into a false sense of security that these projects +are built in the spirit of open-source. Because there is a difference. They are +NOT! They have a really specific goal in mind. And the open-source is being used +as a delivery system. Which is in my opinion disgusting! + +## Conclusion + +I will end my post with this. Web development is running now in circles. People +are discovering [RPC](https://www.tutorialspoint.com/remote-procedure-call-rpc) +now and this is the now the next big thing. [GraphQL](https://graphql.org/) is +so passé. And I am so tired of it all. Of blazingly fast libraries, of all these +new technologies that are actually just a remake of old ones. Of just the +general spirit of the web. I will just use what I already know. Which worked 10 +years ago and will work 10 years after this. I will adopt a couple of little +tools like Vite. But I will not waste my time on this anymore. + +It was a good exercise to get in touch with what’s new now. Nothing really +changed that much. FOMO is now cured! Now I have to get my ass back to actually +code and make the project that I wanted to make in the first place. -- cgit v1.2.3