Looking beyond the AI hype, a quieter revolution is happening in how we handle data state. Here is my perspective on the stack for 2026.
The dust ...
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Great perspective on local-first. I'm already building services with Oracle Cloud's always-free tier, and thinking about reducing API/backend costs by pushing more logic to the client is compelling. Looking forward to your sync engine posts!
Thanks, Lucas! Cost reduction is a huge factor too.
Actually, I just dropped the first implementation post (setting up the local DB): [dev.to/the_nortern_dev/goodbye-loa...]
Sync engine is coming in Part 3!
Sounds ambitious, and relevant - but this isn't an entirely "new" thing, or is it? I think there are already products/frameworks out there which attempt to do exactly this - I can't remember any names off the top of my head (too lazy to look it up right now), but I'm pretty sure that stuff with these capabilities does exist ...
You are absolutely right, Leo. The concept is definitely not new. We've had tools like PouchDB/CouchDB, RxDB, and even Meteor (with its optimistic UI) for years.
The "new" part that I find exciting is the maturity of WASM + SQLite. Moving from document/JSON sync (which many of the older libraries relied on) to a full, relational SQL database running directly in the browser feels like a massive leap forward in capability.
It’s less about "inventing" the idea and more about the ecosystem finally catching up to the vision!
Thanks, cool!
"I will be documenting my attempt to build this synchronization engine over the coming months"
Will be following it if you post it here!
Thanks! I intend to keep the whole series right here on Dev.to. Having critical eyes on the implementation, especially the sync logic, will be valuable, so I look forward to your input when the code drops.
That is very interesting. Certainly worth looking into. Thanks for sharing. I am looking forward to seeing any post on this. So i hope you do.
Glad to hear that, Alptekin. I am definitely planning to document the build process as I go. The next post will likely dive deeper into the specific sync engine setup. Thanks for reading.
This is a very interesting take and looking forward to your future posts on this. I am sure that the concept is not new but I completely agree that a shift to local-first is soon to be upon us. Especially when applications start to utilize condensed or stripped back versions of LLMs.
But great minds think alike because I was just thinking about this very thing last month. I am currently building an application that requires multiple users to interact with the same data set and having offline access is important since it is a construction based project. Some locations at the construction site might not have internet access but the biggest hurdle I am facing is CRDTs and the algorithm needed to properly sync the changes to/from the server.
Great read and look forward to future posts!
Construction sites are actually the textbook definition of why "Cloud-First" fails. When you are in a basement or a remote site, 5G doesn't matter.
You are spot on about the local LLMs too. Running a quantized model right next to the local database is going to unlock some powerful workflows.
Regarding your CRDT struggle: My advice is to avoid writing your own sync algorithm from scratch if you can help it. It is a rabbit hole of edge cases. If you haven't yet, take a look at ElectricSQL or PowerSync. They basically act as a bridge between your backend Postgres and the client SQLite, handling the conflict resolution logic for you. It might save you months of headaches.
I’ve already got a taste of the headache trying to write my own algorithm, haha. I appreciate the suggestions. I’ll look into them both and see which works best at solving this headache.
Adorei a visão sobre local-first! SQLite no browser + sync engine é really game-changing. A parte sobre developers becoming "database administrators" pra client-side é spot on.
Thanks, Lucas. That shift from just fetching data to actually modeling it on the client is going to be the biggest hurdle for many of us. But the performance gains are definitely worth it.