From cd6644ea4ddc78597934ab0ef5ba50e3c3daa927 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Mitja Felicijan Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2023 23:25:41 +0200 Subject: Moved to a simpler SSG --- ...10-06-state-of-web-technologies-in-year-2022.md | 303 --------------------- 1 file changed, 303 deletions(-) delete mode 100644 content/posts/2022-10-06-state-of-web-technologies-in-year-2022.md (limited to 'content/posts/2022-10-06-state-of-web-technologies-in-year-2022.md') diff --git a/content/posts/2022-10-06-state-of-web-technologies-in-year-2022.md b/content/posts/2022-10-06-state-of-web-technologies-in-year-2022.md deleted file mode 100644 index 78595fa..0000000 --- a/content/posts/2022-10-06-state-of-web-technologies-in-year-2022.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,303 +0,0 @@ ---- -title: State of Web Technologies and Web development in year 2022 -url: state-of-web-technologies-and-web-development-in-year-2022.html -date: 2022-10-06T12:00:00+02:00 -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! 😈 - -And if you want to fight this, take a look at this little chart and be mad at -it! - -![Compiling vs Transpiling](/assets/state-of-web/compiling-vs-transpiling.png) - -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 - -![To many options](/assets/state-of-web/2008-vs-2020.png) - -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