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brokenthorn profile image
Paul-Sebastian Manole

Thank you for your very informative answer and for shedding light on a complex topic.

Maybe I should reformulate my opinion. It's not that there's no standards or body to control the evolution of the web... I guess that's not what I meant. I know there are standards and the W3C, etc.

It's just that there's no clear solution to everyone's vision of what the web should be and should be able to do, and the sad part is that the only way the problem can be fixed is, if the web can find the perfect solution in order to become this one and only universal platform everyone wants it to be.

Otherwise we will always continue to hear these complaints about the tools and technologies we use and how they suck, when in fact they are NOT the problem, but only solutions to the real problems!

Maybe the web needs re-architecting from the ground up?

I believe the main issue is with the way we write and run code on the web. For example, having just one programming language and one code runtime is a huge detriment to the web platform. Let's hope WASM and WASI can fix that. And CSS... can't we do better than that? CSS shouldn't be a separate language IMO.

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peerreynders profile image
peerreynders • Edited

It's just that there's no clear solution to everyone's vision of what the web should be and should be able to do

That is one of the problems.

There are lots of opinions of what people want the web to be for their own personal benefit. At the same time there seems to be very little willingness to accept what the web actually is and to understand why it got to be that way.

if the web can find the perfect solution

Perfect with reference to what?

If anything the web is an exercise of "the best we can do with the constraints we are currently operating under". That's what made it successful in the past and that is why it is still around after 31 years (1989).

one and only universal platform everyone wants it to be.

Universal doesn't imply one or even a unified platform. The web succeeded so far because it was willing to compromise in the face of constraints set by technology and physics.

the real problems!

Real solutions accomodate all existing constraints. Solutions that ignore real constraints create problems.

Maybe the web needs re-architecting from the ground up?

Let's say that it was possible to come up with "the perfect" alternative (which is unlikely) - how would it be adopted in the current climate?

The web browser was transitioned onto smart/mobile devices because most customers want access to the web. If Apple removed Safari from iOS today likely a lot of people would be upset - perhaps enough to switch to a platform with web support.

However a new architecture would have very little content initially to generate consumer demand and if there is no opportunity for platform holders to directly profit from it, it's in their interest to not support it.

The web established itself during a unique window of opportunity. Something like it would have a lot more difficulties today. If the web made itself irrelevant we'd likely be back to multiple disparate platforms and walled gardens. The problem is that with mobile the web has to operate in an environment that is even more unreliable and hostile than the one it established itself in. The influx of less expensive devices into the market means that the average device is becoming less performant - even as flagship devices are still becoming more performant.

The web could quickly become irrelevant if the majority of web sites (and apps) indulge in technologies that focus on serving flagship devices with fast and clean network connections while neglecting service/user experience for mid to low-spec devices with less than perfect connections. If the majority of users have to rely on native apps even for casual engagement the reach and therefore appeal of the web is lost. And having to go through the app store for an app download is already beyond "casual".

Also in the past there have been efforts to "improve the web":

  • Java Applets
  • Active X
  • Flash
  • Silverlight

HTML, CSS and JavaScript on the other hand are still around today.

I believe the main issue is with the way we write and run code on the web.

I think this has more to do with the expectations that are grounded in the experience of developing applications for desktop, device native and the back end which aren't constrained in the same way that developing for the web is. I think this is similar to the mindset that is addressed in Convenience over Correctness (2008) - developers wanting to treat a remote procedure call no different than a local function call - it's an unrealistic expectation given that there is so much more that can go wrong with a remote procedure call.

For example, having just one programming language and one code runtime is a huge detriment to the web platform.

Earlier you wanted standardization. Now that you don't like the standard, you want choice (i.e. variation which can lead to fragmentation)?

Let's hope WASM and WASI can fix that.

While WASM is an important development I think people are overestimating its impact - again because they hope that it will bring web development closer to "traditional software development" - but WASM doesn't change the constraints that the web has to operate under. The most likely languages for WASM development will be C/C++/Rust, i.e. systems languages because they only need a skimpy "runtime".

Anything higher level than that will require a significantly larger runtime for download - e.g. Blazor has the .NET CLR (or a variation thereof) albatross around its neck. And multi-language development could require multiple runtimes. I suppose each execution context (page, worker) would require its own copy of the runtime, further increasing memory requirements for a client device. I'm not saying that this won't have interesting niche applications but I don't see these type of solutions having the same kind of reach as lean HTML/CSS/JS solutions with less demanding runtime requirements.

And CSS... can't we do better than that? CSS shouldn't be a separate language IMO.

Why not?
HTML initially included visual design. But in the end it was decided that HTML's job was to structure content - not layout and styling. Windowing systems use programmatic layout managers. For browsers it was decided to go with a declarative language instead.

Granted experience with imperative programming doesn't prepare you for the demands of CSS. It was never meant to make sense to programmers but it seems to make sense to designers (You'd be better at css if you knew how it worked (2019), Don’t QWOP Your Way Through CSS (2017)).

And CSS can be managed on its own terms (ITCSS, BEMIT, CUBE CSS), it just requires a different approach than what most programmers are accustomed to.

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brokenthorn profile image
Paul-Sebastian Manole

Interesting arguments. I'll have to sit on them for a while. Thanks.

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